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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


PRINCETON, N. J. 





PURCHASED BY THE HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND. 





BV 3500 .B72 1925 

Branson, William Henry, 188 
-1961, 

Missionary adventures in 
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Missionary Adventures in Africa 








PERCY M. CLARK, VICTORIA FALLS 


Victoria Falls 
The main fall, as seen from Livingstone Island 


2 


Missionary Adventures 
in Africa 


By William H. Branson 





REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
SOUTH BEND, IND. PEEKSKILL, N. Y. 
Printed in the U. S. A. 


Copyright, 1925, by 
REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 


AUTHOR’S PREFACE 


IN writing and compiling this volume, it has not been my 
purpose to attempt to give a history of all the Seventh-day 
Adventist missions in Africa, as space would not permit. Some 
of our leading stations have barely been mentioned, while others 
have been dealt with at length. 

We have endeavored to choose typical experiences, in order 
to give our people a general view of mission work in the 
African field. Other volumes could be written dealing with 
equally interesting experiences of other stations and other 
faithful missionaries connected with our work. 

Reports, accounts of experiences, and letters from missionaries 
in Africa have been freely used in the preparation of this book, 
but inasmuch as the matter is all original, quotation marks have 
not been used. 

In sending forth this book, it is with a prayer that God will 
use it as a means of stirring up the hearts of many of our 


youth to respond to the call of the millions still waiting in 


Africa for the light. 
W. H. Branson. 


CONTENTS 


AUthor-s A Pretaces wer sare ciceyo ene ere o an aintale en ate Bae 5 
Introduction eg xvi tases eer ae ee eee ee 
Development and Organization of Our Work ......... 15 
Experiences. of. thesvioneers. nce ee acca). Seis oe 19 
InyazuraiVlission, Vl ashonalandesc ti 27 ee ae Zi 
Valamulo wVlissionyNyasaland mon eee ieh et eae ne eee ree 55) 
A Week at the Matandani Mission, Nyasaland ....... 39 
ible avi edicalevLissionarysatnVV.Or Kasanten . eatitieiet ne een ee 45 
Pioneeringe ina basucoland ih-cmenvene tes ren. eee 51 
The Conversion of Chiefs Ledingwana and Rampa ..... 61 
Pioneering, onethe’ Conoo, Borders... eee eee 65 
MusoftieM ission, «Central Atrica sya ee ea ee ih 
Christianity, Wins.in Heathens Kraalse- nee) aa eee 81 
Pressing convAmid® L)ifiicultiesms see: s 0 cena eee eee eres 85 
‘Aincan. Feralds or therCrosses sa eck eee 95 | 
Northeast Rhodesia. .). press. . tans  eee e 107 
Here and’ There we os 0 iss on ed ee 113 
Medical (Work: Opens the |Way! 7... e205) eee 121 
‘shesand<ot the-Ondonpas 1. aed: oe eee 127 
Opening News Erelds? «5 ie rete eee eee ee 133 
Camp-Meetings:in.Gentral) Africas ae eee 139 
Lhe. W orks otsthe-Outschools sya. 95 sate eee 149 
Encounters with Dangerous Animals ................ 157 
Ini the jBelgian ‘Congd..n Ae ae eee eee eee 165 


6 


CONTENTS 7 


Promeoolusisto, the Beloian.Gongor s.cos aes. tice ee Wis} 
Selecting New Mission Sites in Central Africa ........ 185 
Atalilizabethyilles Belowurs Congor..2: 3. Poo eek se 191 
A tem DUK ATI AEE ce eee terete es Gloss taere Metal Meletecaied ae 203 
G)netiicm Ua apam IN Ver sewer eye tweet tic eee Sie we. fe 211 
TaN od GOST ER 4 d pa im CONAN oc ke re or ine ara BLT 
rer kinos ide thee Delian Onon.eete ties chins Oa. ZA9 
BA PEDeSOK Gm V 1Llage errmcie merc nal teats ait cee talstcren. creel? «yas Zag 
Ateeiiers Viukangwa si.Villagem, geet wee wae can oes 235 
EAE MIS ALVA LOM mrsPirenten ee her etry lene ees eee ahe naire cea a nel soe 241 
Daypreakmilntien Wark a Ontinent serene rs o erties ¢ 245 


WV ide-G) pen tL JOOS mt e. Urs aera ha Mudd te huh oe wee ae 6 251 


ROLY yNoSG ‘uMojadey ‘J9013G Aofiappy dy suryooT 





INTRODUCTION 


THE POLITICAL UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA 


SoutH Arrica is often called ‘“ England’s health resort.” 
The greater part of the country is high and mountainous, and 
this, no doubt, is responsible for its delightful climate. Upon 
the plateaus are many cattle, sheep, goats, and in some places, 
ostriches. The beautiful, fertile valleys are well cultivated, 
and almost every kind of food for man and beast grows in 
abundance. 

In traveling through Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, 
Natal, and the Transvaal, one sees many farms, with fine 
country homes. Large fields of corn, barley, oats, tea, and 
sugar cane grow in many places. Nearer the coast are orchards 
of peaches, oranges, apples, and pears. Besides these, pineapples, 
mangoes, cherries, grapes, figs, apricots, berries, and currants 
grow in abundance. 

Many of the higher mountains are often covered with snow, 
which sometimes does not disappear until late spring. As late 
as October 25, which corresponds with April in America, I 
saw considerable snow in passing through the Hex River 
Valley, Cape Colony, about one hundred miles north of 
Cape Town. Snow, to a depth of six or eight inches, falls 
occasionally as far north as Johannesburg, one thousand miles 
from the Cape. 


A COSMOPOLITAN POPULATION 


Africa is not all black. In the political union of South 
Africa there exists today a high class of European civilization. 
The cities and towns have all the modern conveniences. In 
any of these cities one could easily imagine himself in one of 
the up-to-date cities of America or Europe. The houses are 
well built, the building material being largely brick and cement, 
with tile, slate, or corrugated iron for roofs. 


? 


10 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


The capital is divided between three. of the principal cities 
— Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein. ‘The reason for 
this is that when the various provinces were united, an agree- 
ment could not be reached as to the location of the capital, each 
province desiring to have it within its own territory. So a 
compromise was reached, by locating the government offices in 
Pretoria, the parliament in Cape Town, and the law courts in 
Bloemfontein. 

Johannesburg, in the Transvaal, is the metropolis of South 
Africa; Cape Town is nearly as large; and Pretoria, Durban, 
East London, Port Elizabeth, Pietermaritzburg, Kimberley, 
and Bloemfontein rank among its chief cities. 


CAPE TOWN AND DURBAN 


Both Cape Town and Durban have become very important 
ports. Large vessels from almost every part of the world call 
there to discharge and load cargo and passengers. “The Royal 
Mail Line, from Cape Town to Southampton, England, ranks 
first among the many steamship companies, and every week one 
of its large passenger ships arrives from England, and another 
departs, laden with passengers and post. 

The principal exports are diamonds, gold, wool, ostrich 
feathers, hides, fruit, and beef. Manufacturing has not been 
carried on on a large scale in the past, but is now assuming 
larger proportions. Clothing, boots, and sugar are among the 
leading articles made. 

In most of the cities are found large, beautiful parks and 
botanical gardens, filled with a profusion of plants and flowers. 
White people predominate, but one meets many natives on the 
streets. One also sees a few Malays in bright red turbans, and 
Hindus in the garb of East India. 

Motor cars, street cars, electric lights, suburban railways, 
modern business houses, churches, theaters, and _ beautiful 
dwellings are to be seen on every hand. I believe there are 
more automobiles in use in South Africa in proportion to the 
number of European inhabitants than in many parts of America 
and Europe. ‘They are of every size, type, and style, 











COURTESY, SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS 


Along the Rocky Coast, South Africa 


igh 


{2 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


THE RAILWAY SYSTEM 


South Africa’s railway system connects all the important 
towns. The trains do not run so fast as those in America, but 
one can travel in comparative comfort at an average speed of 
from twenty to twenty-five miles an hour. Even beyond the 
border of the Belgian Congo, far to the north, the trains travel 
twenty-five miles an hour. As traffic is usually heavy, each 
train carries from eight to twelve passenger coaches. “These 
are divided into very comfortable compartments, arranged for 
four or six passengers, according to class, and provide a bed 
for each. 


MANY NATIVE TRIBES 


Of course, even South Africa is not all civilized. There are 
many native tribes among which civilization has made little 
progress. ‘These live largely in immense reservations set apart 
for them by the British government. Many of them come very 
little into touch with the outside world. Others, however, 
desiring employment, drift into the cities and European farming 
areas to become laborers and servants of the white man. 

The natives live in the most primitive style. “The houses of 
some tribes are low, round, beehive-shaped huts, made of poles 
and thatched with straw. Others are plastered on the outside 
with clay. “The interior of these huts is the rudest possible. 
There is no floor but the ground, and usually no furniture but 
some earthen waterpots, a kettle or two for cooking, and a 
few goatskins or sheepskins. ‘There is no chimney, and only 
one opening, which serves for both door and window. ‘The 
cooking is done in the middle of the one room, and the smoke 
gets out the best way it can. 

It is not always because these people are so poor that they 
do not have more conveniences. Many of them have large 
herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. But they seem to feel that 
their way of living is quite as good as that of the white man, 
and requires less work and worry. ; 


INTRODUCTION 13 


THE GOSPEL HARVEST 


Some of these native tribes have been under the influence 
of the gospel for more than one hundred years. Yet the 
evangelization of the native population of Africa has only begun. 
Of the one hundred forty or one hundred fifty million natives 
in Africa, less than two million have accepted the gospel and 
united with Christian churches. ‘This does not mean that the 
native is not susceptible to the gospel, for he is; but it does 
mean that very little has been done for him by the outside 
Christian world. Wherever the gospel reaches these people, 
a rich harvest is reaped. I consider, therefore, that one of the 
most urgent problems confronting the church, is that of seriously 
planning for the evangelization of the millions of inhabitants 
of this great continent. 





Baptismal Scene at the Solusi Camp-Meeting 























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MAP OF 
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN 


AFRICA 


Scala of Miles 
Cen? __200_ 300 400 800 / 

















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DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATION 
OF OUR WORK 


Our early missionaries who went to the Dark Continent 
began their work with the European population of South Africa 
in the cities of Cape Town and Kimberley. Churches were 
established in these places, and the original buildings are doing 
good service today. As the work spread, the South African 
Conference was organized, with headquarters at Cape Town. 
As the years passed and the work was extended into the Orange 
Free State, Natal, and the Transvaal, the need of reorganization 
became apparent, and the South African Union Conference was 
organized, comprising the Natal-Transvaal, Orange Free State, 
and Cape Conferences. As the native territories farther north 
were entered and missions established, a second union was 
formed, known as the Zambesi Union Mission, embracing our 
work in South Central Africa. 

The South African Union Conference served as a general 
organization to foster all the interests of our work in South 
and Central Africa, until 1920, when the African Division 
was organized. ‘The sanitarium, educational, and publishing 
branches were all begun, and for many years these lines of 
work have had a large influence in the development of the 
message in that great continent. 


PRESENT ORGANIZATION 


Our organization at present is made up as follows: 

The Aftican Division, with headquarters at Claremont, a 
suburb of Cape Town, comprising the territory of South 
Africa, North and South Rhodesia, Southwest Africa, Angola, 
Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland, Belgian Congo, French 
Congo, French Cameroons, and the French Sudan. 

The South African Union Conference, with headquarters 
at Bloemfontein, comprising the political union of South Africa, 


15 


16 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


southern Bechuanaland, and the southern portion of Portuguese 
East Africa. This union now has four local fields and one 
unorganized field, as follows: The Cape Conference, with 
headquarters at Port Elizabeth; the Orange River Conference, 
with headquarters at Bloemfontein; the Natal-Transvaal Con- 
ference, with headquarters at Pietermaritzburg; Natal, the 
Bechuanaland Mission field, with headquarters at Mafeking; 
and the southern portion of Portuguese East Africa, which 
has not yet been entered. This union fosters both the European 
and the native work in its territory. 


The Zambesi Union Mission, with headquarters at Bula- 
wayo, South Rhodesia, comprising the following local fields: 
The South Rhodesia Mission field, with headquarters at Gwelo ; 
the North Rhodesia Mission field, with headquarters at Lusaka; 
the Nyasaland Mission field, with headquarters at Malamulo 
Mission, Blantyre; and Portuguese East Africa, except the 
southern portion, a field which as yet we have not been able 
to occupy. 


The Congo United Missions, comprising our work in the 
Belgian Congo. 


The South Atlantic United Missions, comprising our new 
missions in Southwest Africa and Angola. 

We have three principal institutions: The Cape Sanitarium, 
located at Plumstead, Cape; the Sentinel Publishing Company, 
at Kenilworth, Cape; and the Spion Kop College, at Ladysmith, 
Natal, besides the various native training schools and main 
mission stations throughout the division. 

Thus every branch of the work is established and is 
contributing its share toward the upbuilding of the church of 
Christ in the Dark Continent. There are therefore at the 
present time in this division, one sanitarium, one junior col- 
lege for Europeans, one publishing house, three native training 
schools, nine main mission stations, five outstations, and 152 
outschools under native teachers. ‘There are more than 1,400 
white members, 4,000 native and colored members, and 4,300 
believers not yet baptized, making a total of some 10,000 ad- 
herents. We have 84 white and 365 native workers. 


DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF OUR WORK 17 


THE TASK BEFORE US 


When we compare the present situation with what our early 
pioneers faced, we can truly say that to those who “sat in 
darkness’ a “ great light’ has arisen; but when we turn our 
eyes to the still unworked portions, the situation is little short 
of appalling. Africa is such a vast country, comprising, with 
her adjacent islands, some 11,500,000 square miles of territory, 
that to cover it 
with this message 
is no small task. ; 

Of all the conti- & Gee 
nents, Africa ranks 
second in size. It 
is three times as EUROPE 
ligase gececel YC aaheetios 
and half again 
larger than either : Laties 
North or South | SQUARE mies 
America. Bishop 
Hartzell has made 





. WALES 7446 


UNITE 
the following com- S enn 


parison between BD 3,092,679 


. SQUARE MILES 
Africa and some of 


the countries of the 
world: 

“There is room 
enough on_ the 
lower end of 


SaudAc mies” 


























the continent for 
the whole of the 
United States; Europe can be placed on one side of Central 
Africa; China could be accommodated on the other half of 
Central Africa; and there is room for all India and Wales, 
Scotland, and Ireland, in the lower valley of the Nile and 
along the coasts of the Mediterranean; while there is plenty 
of room. for Porto Rico and the Philippines on the island of 
Madagascar.” 
2 


A Comparative Map of Africa 


8T 


JOAN Isoquez ‘purjsy seyepurey 0} YO 





EXPERIENCES OF THE PIONEERS 


SoLusrt Mission, in Matabeleland, thirty-five miles west of 
Bulawayo, was our first mission in Africa, and also our first 
among heathen people. It was originally a tract of 12,000 acres, 
secured in 1894, and opened by Elder F. Sparrow and family, 
Elder G. B. Tripp and family, Elder and Mrs. W. H. Ander- 
son, and Dr. A. S. Carmichael. Elder Sparrow took charge of 
the mission farm in 1894, and the other workers arrived the 
following year. “They spent the first three months in trading 
with the natives, marketing the grain, building houses, and 
preparing for the rainy season. 

In March, 1896, a rebellion among the natives broke out, 
compelling the workers to leave the farm and flee for safety 
to Mangwe, a town sixty miles to the southwest. ‘There they 
encamped, more or less exposed to the weather, with little food, 
almost no money, and no comforts, until late in July, when the 
men returned to the farm. In September, Sisters Tripp and 
Anderson followed. 


A SEVERE FAMINE 


The natives having failed to plant sufficient grain during the 
time they were fighting, a long, severe famine set in, which 
continued until April, 1897. During this time, when food was 
so scarce, the missionaries placed their dependence upon God’s 
word, and their need was supplied. Elder F. B. Armitage and 
his family joined the corps of workers in September, 1897, and 
during the holiday season Elder O. A. Olsen and Dr. Kate 
Lindsay paid them a visit. 

Sickness and death came to the mission early the next year, 
six members of their company being laid to rest between the 
close of February and the first of May. They were: Elder Tripp 
and his son, Dr. Carmichael, Brother Sparrow’s little girl, Sister 
Armitage, and a native teacher. “The exposure and hardship 
which had come to the mission family during the war and the 
famine which followed, were largely responsible for this heavy 
toll. 

19 


20 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


A large company of workers, among them Elder F. L. Mead 
and his family, arrived at the mission in April, 1899. Elder 
Mead took up the work laid down by Elder Tripp. T’wo 
outstations were opened, and the work was strengthened in 
many ways. Elder Mead was stricken with pneumonia in 
October, 1901, while on his way to a conference at Cape Town, 
and died at Kimberley. His wife, with her son and daughter, 
remained at the mission for a time, later going to Claremont, 


near Cape Town, where she also died, Feb. 10, 1904. 


HEAVY BURDENS MADE LIGHTER 


Hardships such as the pioneers endured, while not altogether 
in the past, have been greatly minimized in these later years. 
In many places, substantial brick dwellings have been built, 
replacing the leaky pole-and-thatch huts, with their dirt floors. 
Many conveniences of civilization have replaced the makeshift 
appliances with which the missionaries were at first obliged to 
get on, and our work as a whole on behalf of the natives of 
Africa is in a more prosperous condition than ever before. 
Government railways, which are constantly being extended 
farther and farther inland, government wireless stations and 
telephones, together with the opportunity of using the motor 
cycle and the bicycle for travel among the native villages, have 
contributed to lighten the burdens of the missionary in the 
Dark Continent. 

In 1902, the year following Elder Mead’s death, Elder M. C. 
Sturdevant was invited to connect with the Solusi Mission. 
Eight years later he was asked to open the Mashonaland 
Mission in Southern Rhodesia, northeast of Solusi. In nar- 
rating his experiences, he gives a glimpse of actual mission life 
in the heart of Africa. He says: 


WHEN TRAVELING WAS DANGEROUS 


In response to the call from Elder A. G, Daniells at the 
conference meeting held at Nashville, Tenn., in January, 1902, 
for some one to take the place of Elder F. L. Mead, Mrs. 
Sturdevant, our son Jonathan, and I set sail for South Africa, 


EXPERIENCES OF THE PIONEERS 2A 


March 5, 1902, via England, arriving at Cape Town, April 
1, 1902. ‘Those were the closing days of the dreadful Boer War 
in South Africa. The railway went only to Bulawayo, and 
traveling was difficult and dangerous. Every few miles were 
blockhouses, in which were stationed English soldiers to guard 
the railway and surrounding country. 

We were compelled to wait one week at Cape Town before 
we could proceed inland, and our baggage had to be reopened 
and put up in small packages. We were permitted to send only 
a certain number of pounds each day. When the day finally 
came that we could start for the north, we were packed into a 
third-class carriage, where we had to make our abode for one 
full week. 

After the first night, we were escorted by two armored trains, 
one going in front and one following, loaded with British sol- 
diers. We could travel only by day until the last night, having 
by that time left the war zone. 


CAMPING OUT WITH OX WAGONS 


We arrived in Bulawayo April 16, at 9 p. mM. What a re- 
lief it was to get out of our cramped quarters once more. We 
were met at the station by Brother Anderson and Lena Mead, 
with some of the native helpers to look after our baggage. 
We were taken to a camp just in the edge of town. Here we 
had our first experience of camping out with ox wagons by a 
camp fire, but it was such a relief from our cramped train life 
that we could look upon it only with pleasure. 

There were two large wagons, pulled by twelve and sixteen 
oxen respectively, loaded with grain from the mission station, 
to be sold the next day. It did seem strange to us to see so 
many oxen for one wagon, but we were not long in learning the 
. reason for all this, after seeing the African roads and the river 
drifts. 


TRADING IN BULAWAYO 


The greater part of the next day was spent in Bulawayo, 
selling the grain, and buying necessary things for the mission 
station. Late in the afternoon we started for the mission, some 


22 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


thirty-five miles distant. We went nine miles that evening, 
and then camped for the night by a river. The rivers here have 
little or no water at this time of the year, but the chill and 
frost were severe. We shall never forget that night. Long 
before daylight, in the chill of morning, Brother Anderson gave 
orders to get up and move on. 

We traveled until nearly nine o’clock, then outspanned for 
breakfast and to feed the oxen. Be assured, we were ready to 
break-the-fast. One more long “ trek,’’ and we pulled into the 
mission grounds at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, April 17, 1902. 
At home! What a relief, after one month and twelve days of 
traveling! And what a new home it was! So different from 
anything we had seen before in our lives. Yet how thankful 
to God we were to be in the mission field! Brother Anderson 
showed us two new rooms with walls of brick, newly added to 
his house, where we were to stay until other arrangements 
could be made. 

Sister F. L. Mead was still in charge of the mission, after 
the death of her husband, and Walter Mead was in charge of 
the store. Lena, only a young girl at this time, helped her 
mother. Brother and Sister Anderson had charge of the school 
work and did most of the running about, looking after outs:de 
matters. 


STUDYING THE NATIVE TONGUE 


We were soon hard at work studying the language, helping 
in the store, and clearing up the farm in preparation for more 
agricultural work the coming season. 

Three months later, Elder G. W. Reaser came to the mission, 
and the work was more fully organized. Sister Mead and her 
family were released to connect with the school work at the 
Cape. Brother Anderson was put in charge of the work as 
superintendent; Sister Anderson, of the day school; and I was 
assigned the care of the store and farm, directing the industrial 
part of the station. 

While Elder Reaser was with us, we had our second baptism. 
‘Twenty-two persons went forward in this ordinance. Elder 


EXPERIENCES OF THE PIONEERS 25 


Mead had baptized one native lad before this, Jim Mayinza, 
who has now become a native evangelist. He is our first or- 
dained native worker, and God has done a wonderful work 
through him in turning scores of men and women to the gospel. 
Soon after this, our first church was organized in Central Africa. 

Sister Mead left our mission the first part of August. Brother 
Claude Tarr came to help us in October, as Brother and Sister 
Anderson were soon to take a four months’ leave for rest. 
Brother Tarr was to take over the care of the farm and general 
outside work. Mrs. Sturdevant and I were to look after the 
mission and school work. 


AE ACKE DED Ye rPEVER 


‘This was a very wet season, and there was much fever among 
the natives. It required a great deal of work to care for the sick. 
I had two attacks of the fever, at one time despairing of my 
life. Our son Jonathan also was stricken down, and with other 
troubles setting in, died Feb. 10, 1903. This was our only 
child, and we miss him much, but submit all things to Him 
who knoweth best. 

Brother Anderson was absent most of the time, looking up 
a new mission site north of the great Zambesi, and the main 
burden of the mission work fell upon the rest of the mission 
family. At the time of our arrival, there was a small boarding 
school composed of some fourteen native children, who were 
taken in by our missionaries at the time of the famine caused 
by the Matabele war in 1896. A day school was being con- 
ducted with some thirty-five in attendance. No night school 
had been started as yet, but one was opened soon after we came. 

We labored on for eight and a half years at this mission, and 
for a great part of this time were the only white workers there, 
though at intervals help was sent to us when we were almost 
exhausted. 

Because we were not troubled with fever as others were at 
the other station, when we would make a call for help, we 
would be told, ““ Hold to the work. We must send the help 
to those who are suffering from fever.” ‘The result was that 


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EXPERIENCES OF THE PIONEERS 25 


we found ourselves broken down, but we had the joy of seeing 
the school, church, and outschool work grow rapidly. 

At the time we left this mission to go farther inland, our 
boarding students numbered 100, our day school nearly 200, 
and we had started twelve outschools. Several of our trained 
teachers had been called to help at other main stations. By 
this time we had baptized 150 natives, who were living devoted 
lives and our regular attendance at the Sabbath services had 
reached nearly 300. Sabbath afternoons some of the teachers 
and older students would go out and hold meetings in the 
near-by kraals. In this way we were all the time sowing the 
seed for a harvest in the rising generation — the little children 
who were then growing up. 

Since that time the work has continued to grow until today 
(1922) there is a church membership of 266, with 342 others 
in the baptismal classes, who are preparing for membership. 
The outschools have grown until there are now twenty-two 
schools attached to this mission, with an attendance of 982. 
A harvest of more than a hundred souls a year is now being 
reaped by this. mission. 


OPENING NEW WORK 
October 12, 1910, Brother and Sister W. C. Walston came 


to take charge of this mission, leaving us free to go on to 
Mashonaland, about 500 miles farther inland by rail, to open 
up a new station. The last day of October we left old Solusi 
for our new adventure, leaving Brother and Sister Walston 
and Brother Victor Wilson to care for this work. It was not 
without a struggle that we turned our faces away from Solusi, 
and toward the unexplored field that lay before us, as our 
hearts had become knit to these people. 


EEO OOO EOE OEE OE OOOO EO EEO OEE EO EOE eee EE 
96 


.“SJOOYSINO dA[AM} PoIe}s pey OM pur ‘ooz Aj1edU [OoyDs Ap AMO ‘oor pasaquinu sjuepnjs Surpivog Ing ,, 


UOISSIP ISHJOS ‘asnoyfoOoyIS MaN 





INYAZURA MISSION, MASHONALAND 


THE trip of our missionaries inland from the mission near 
Bulawayo to Mashonaland, through a wild, undeveloped coun- 
try, was not without dangers and difficulties. Concerning their 
experiences, Elder M. C. Sturdevant writes: 

October 31, 1910, we left Solusi Mission in Matabeleland 
to open up our first mission in Mashonaland. Early in this 
year the Mission Board authorized me to dispose of a portion 
of the Solusi Mission farm in exchange for the same amount 
of land in Mashonaland, if the government would so grant, as 
our Solusi site was much larger than we thought was needed 
for our work there. 

Accordingly in March of this year (1910) I went to Salis- 
bury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia, to see the government 
officials and get permission to go ahead and cheose a farm. 
After much earnest prayer and seeking of God, we were able 
to get several letters of recommendation from the officials in 
Bulawayo to the administration in Salisbury. With these 
letters we had easy work. “The administrator received us with 
all favor, and gave me permission to go on inland near the 
Portuguese border, in search of a mission site. 


LIONS, LEOPARDS, AND WILD DOGS 


On this trip we worked hard and walked much through the 
wild bush and forests, being exposed to the wild heasts, which 
were very numerous at this time. “This portion of the country 
was full of lions, leopards, and wild dogs. Monkeys and 
baboons and deer of all kinds were very plentiful also, coming 
down from the mountains and hills. The country was beautiful 
and fertile, and much better watered than Matabeleland,— a 
real farming district. 

The farm we decided on was forty-eight miles from Umtali 
on the Beira and Mashonaland Railway, about six and a 
half miles from Inyazura siding. The name of the farm is» 


27 


28 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Tsungwesi Ridge, after which we named the mission. ‘The 
name has since been changed to Inyazura. An ever-flowing 
river goes through the center of the farm. An Englishman 
who had taken this farm from the government some two years 
before, but was now giving it up and returning to England, 
asked me why I did not take his farm, telling me he was that 
very day going to Salisbury to notify the government of his 
release, and he offered to speak a word in favor of my taking 
it over. We saw in this the providence of God, and gladly 
accepted his favor. 

After many months’ delay, this site was finally granted, and, 
as said before, Mrs. Sturdevant and I, with six of our Matabele 
young men and their wives and children, a company of twenty 
altogether, left Solusi the last of October, 1910, with a team 
of twelve donkeys, a wagon loaded with our goods, and three 
dogs and a gun for protection, to occupy this new station. 


UNDER A TENT AND BUCK SAIL 


We reached Tsungwesi on a Friday. ‘This was a busy 
Friday, as we unloaded our stuff and pitched our camp for the 
Sabbath. No sooner was our tent pitched and our goods under 
shelter of the buck sail, than the rain came down. ‘That night 
and Sabbath and the night following it rained in torrents. 
The rainy season was just setting in. 

Sunday morning the sun shone out bright again, and we 
broke camp, loaded up our goods, and started with our donkey 
team over the veld, hunting a road to our new mission home. 
We outspanned at the second river to feed our donkeys and 
take some refreshment ourselves. Here I left my wife and the 
natives, and went on my bicycle to see if the house and native 
huts our English friend had built were still standing. 

The grass fires had swept over the place just a week before 
our arrival, and we were told that all the buildings had burned 
down, but to our great joy, we found the house and four huts 
standing, though the fire had burned all around, even blacken- 
ing the poles and sides of the house. The buildings were of 

“poles and dagga (mud), with grass roofs. The windows and 


INYAZURA MISSION, MASHONALAND 29 


doors had all been taken away, but there was a shelter left 
for our little band of workers. 

This proved to be a very wet season. “The work went on 
under great difficulties. No little fever came into our camp. 
Our native teacher’s wife was taken sick, and at the end of 
the first six weeks we had to lay her and her little babe away. 

This caused a great gloom to come over our little company 
of native workers, and they began to feel that I had brought 
them out into the wilderness to slay them, and some almost 
wanted to return home at once; but God overruled, and all soon 
took hold of the work again with renewed courage. Many 
of the difficulties connected with new mission life can never be 
told, but the blessings that also come cover all our sorrows. 


A NATIVE SCHOOL IN THE DINING-HUT 


We did not intend to start our school till our building work 
was well under way and farming ground prepared, but the 
natives came to us from all sides, begging us to start at once. 
The main native path from three large reserves passed through 
the mission farm, thus bringing us in close contact with two 
different classes of natives. So at the end of our first two 
months, Jan. 1, 1911, we opened our first Mashonaland Mission 
school in the native workers’ dining-hut, as we had had no 
time to build a schoolhouse. 

We put up a pole and dagga school building as quickly as we 
could, and soon our school began to grow. ‘The first year was 
a very trying one to Mrs. Sturdevant and me, with our school 
work, brick making, building, and breaking up new land. We 
soon found ourselves overworked and our strength giving way. 


A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE 


At the end of the first year, on Christmas day, Brother Claude 
Tarr was sent to our help. What a pleasant Christmas gift this 
was to us! Brother Tarr remained with us five months, taking 
over the heavy part of the work. April 30, 1912, Elder R. C. 
Porter made us the first visit we had had from any of our leading 
brethren. He gave us great encouragement, and spoke well of 
the work we had begun. Just one month later, May 30, 1912, 


30 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Brother and Sister C. L. Bowen and their two children came 
from America to connect permanently with us in our work. 
We were very thankful for this addition, for the work had out- 
grown the care of one family. 

These new workers took over the care of the school, and 
helped with the building. ‘The following December, Brother 
Laurie Sparrow came to help Brother Bowen, leaving Mrs. 
Sturdevant and me free to take a much-needed furlough. 

We first attended the South African Union camp-meeting 
held at Cape Town. ‘Then with Elder Porter and others who 
were returning to America, we set sail for the homeland. We 
had then been in Africa eleven years, under heavy mission work, 
and greatly felt the need of rest. For three and one-half years 
I had not been free from the mission life, not for a day. Going 
to America at this time, we had the blessed privilege of at- 
tending the General Conference held in Washington, D. C., 
in 1913. 


AN EPIDEMIC OF SMALLPOX 


We had been in the homeland only a few weeks when we 
received word from Sister Bowen that smallpox had broken out 
among the natives, that their two children had had it, and 
that Brother Bowen had died of the dreadful disease. For six 
weeks the mission was entirely shut in by quarantine. 

In the providence of God, Brother C. R. Sparrow had just 
gone over to the mission to visit his son, and was shut in with 
the rest. Had it not been for his help and advice, conditions 
would have been much worse than they were. 

So while we were at the General Conference, having been 
only a few weeks in America, we were advised to return to our 
mission work much sooner than we had planned. ‘Therefore we 
were in the homeland only five months, with our relatives and 
friends. Brother and Sister F. B. Jewell and son were chosen 
to return with us to help in the place of Brother Bowen. We 
arrived back at the mission Oct. 11, 1913, to resume our work. 

We found the mission in a dreadful condition. Many of 
our buildings had been destroyed by fire, and nearly all the 


INYAZURA MISSION, MASHONALAND 31 


natives had fled. The working forces were nearly all gone. 
There were crops to be reaped and marketed, plowing to be 
done, and more buildings to be put up at once to house the 
natives, if we could get them to return. Dreadful evil reports 
had gone abroad, which made the recruiting of our school very 
hard. We saw the need, and began work with all our might. 

Brother and Sister Jewell had been with us only a short time 
when their health became such that they were obliged to leave 
the mission and go to the Cape Sanitarium for treatment. ‘This 
again left Mrs. Sturdevant and me with all the work of a large 
mission. We could not endure the strain, and soon found our 
strength giving out. Later Brother Hubert Sparrow was sent 
to our relief, and with a willing heart and strong body lifted 
heavy burdens from our shoulders. ‘This brother was a most 
efficient helper. 

A GROWING MISSION 


The coming December (1914) we were advised by the South 
African mission board to attend the union conference to be held 
in Durban, Natal, and take a rest. The saddest part to us was 
that we were not permitted to return to our mission work on 
account of declining health, but we had had the blessed privilege 
of seeing the mission develop from wild bush and forest into 
a productive farm of 250 acres of cultivated land. Our last 
crop was a very good one. ‘There was a large herd of fine 
cattle, and oxen for labor. We had built two European brick 
houses, a large church made of poles and dagga with grass roof, 
a store building, stable, and outhouse, and a brick dormitory 
for the native girls, with many huts for the boys. 

Our boarding school pupils then numbered a few over one 
hundred, the day school a few more. We had been just four 
years connected with this mission, and had seen some Mashona 
natives give their hearts and lives to the Lord. Several good 
teachers had been developed. We had baptized sixty-eight in 
all, and laid the foundation for others to build upon. Thus 
ended our mission life in South Africa, yet our hearts and 
prayers will ever follow this work and those giving themselves 
to mission endeavor. 


“cc 





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puryeseAN ‘UOIssIPy O[NuEye py 


bE 


SIY YUM ‘9UOJSSUIATT Jey} SAvs a[NUIeyIMY ,, 


ye yeyidsoyy 


MALAMULO MISSION, NYASALAND 


In the time of Livingstone, the place which is now called 
the Malamulo Mission was part of a very large tract of land 
belonging to Makwiro, a native chief who lived on the Shire 
River. ‘This chief is now dead, but one of his underchiefs, 
Kwitamule, still lives in his village near the mission. He has 
lived in this same region since that time, long ago, when the 
wonderful white man entered the land. 

Recently this chief related to one of our missionaries in a 
spirited and intelligent manner the story of the coming of Living- 
stone, whose appearing added a new word to the Chinyanja 
language. “They called him “ Mzungu,” a term so nearly like 
“Mlungu ” (god) that it is commonly thought it was bestowed 
in the belief that he was a god. ‘To this day every other white 
man is known as “ Mzungu”’ in the black man’s country, even 
though, unlike the devoted Livingstone, he may have brought 
only a black heart in his white body. 


FOLLOWING LIVINGSTONE 


Kwitamule says that Livingstone, with his caravan, passed 
directly through what is now the mission station, and his tent 
was pitched for a few days on a spot between the mission house 
and the brick church. ‘To this spot Livingstone called Kwita- 
mule with other chiefs for a conference, to request that they 
find for him additional carriers for his caravan. 

“When the great and good white man was ready to move 
on,” said Kwitamule, “ I went with him across the little stream 
at the foot of your garden, and there we said ‘ Good-by.’ I 
never saw him again. I was distressed that I could not go with 
him, but a great fever was on me, and I could not walk well.” 

The future held still other beautiful scenes for that little 
stream, for in it, later, were to be baptized, every year, scores 
of faithful followers of their Lord, who, in token of what it 
was to mean to them, would name it “ The Jordan.” 


3 33 


34 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


AY COFFEES PEAN PALION 


After Livingstone, came other white men, for various pur- 
poses, and to one of these white settlers Makwiro sold this tract 
of land for a few bundles of cheap red cloth, and this man later 
sold it to a German planter, who immediately began its improve- 
ment, planting trees and clearing the ground for gardens, which 
he set out to coffee trees. He built a strong brick house with 
a galvanized iron roof, and a long building for a coffee store. 
Eucalyptus and citrus trees were planted to beautify the place; 
and such fruits as guavas, lemons, loquats, pineapples, and 
bananas were grown for his own use. 


Later he sold the place as a going concern to the Seventh 
Day Baptists, who expected, by purchasing a plantation fully 
equipped, to establish a mission without the burden of annual 
appropriations to carry it on. “The place was named “ Plainfield 
Mission,” after the headquarters of that denomination. As 
often happens with such enterprises, a bad season and a short 
crop curtailed the expected income, and the place was thrown 
onto the market. 


The price paid to the German planter was £2,500, but when 
the Seventh Day Baptists found the operation of the coffee 
plantation unprofitable, they offered the estate to our Mission 
Board for a sum considerably less than they had paid for it. 
Brother and Sister I’. H. Branch were sent out from America, 
and for nearly a year bore the entire burden of this mission, 
when Brother and Sister J. H. Watson arrived. 


Within six months after their arrival, Brother Watson lay 
buried under the trees at the foot of the garden, having suc- 
cumbed to malaria, and his wife and little son were on their 
way out of the country. Brother Branch and his wife were 
again left with the heavy cares of the mission. For four years 
more they faithfully labored on, without change or rest, until 
the coming of Elder and Mrs. J. C. Rogers, in May, 1907, 
when the Branch family returned to America to put their 
children in school. 


MALAMULO MISSION, NYASALAND 35 


THE MISSION OF THE COMMANDMENTS 


Up to that time our Nyasaland Mission had been known as 
the “ Plainfield Mission,’ but this name meant nothing what- 
ever to the native mind. Within the first week after arrival, 
Elder Rogers called the native teachers together (there were 
only four at that time), and after prayerful consideration he 
and they decided upon “ Malamulo Mission”’ (the Mission of 
the Commandments) as a new name. So now, up and down 
the land, all the natives know it as “ The Commandment 
Mission.” Its name is thus made to herald the message. 

A school was opened, and the first term closed with an enrol- 
ment of sixty students, while at the beginning of the new school 
year, August, 1907, a company of 200 or more young people 
had applied for admission. ‘The little grass-and-wattle shed that 
served as a church and schoolhouse, overflowed with the crowd 
that poured into it, and classes had to find a classroom under 
the shady trees near the little church. 

Most of these young people came as boarders, working the 
fields to provide their food, and thus they were brought directly 
under mission influence. Of this time Sister Rogers writes: 

“To God’s blessed care we give the praise for the fact that 
so many of those who came to us that year, naked and ignorant 
as only poor Africans can be, are this moment faithful, intelli- 
gent coworkers with the European members of the staff.” 


OPENING WORK AT MATANDANI 


This sudden and remarkable growth in the mission enrolment 
presented a new opportunity for the exercise of mission in- 
fluence by the opening of many village schools, where the 
younger ones in the overcrowded central school could get a 
start before coming to Malamulo. Brother and Sister S. M. 
Konigmacher had just arrived from America, and they went 
at once to open the first of these outschools at the newly pur- 
chased station at Matandani, a hundred miles north of Mala- 
mulo. ‘That same year one of the most faithful of the four 
native teachers, with his wife and family, also went out into 
a native village where a school site had been granted, and his 


36 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


life among his own people, in the midst of darkest heathen 
superstition, had a powerful influence for good. After that, 
these outschools began to multiply rapidly. 

The vacation months of 1908 were full of the business of 
making a good, burned-brick church, which was greatly needed. 
The bricks were made from the clay of ant hills apparently a 
thousand years old. The clay was trodden into mud by native 
feet, shaped into bricks by native hands, and burned in fires 
made by the abundant wood on the estate. The finished build- 
ing was furnished with mahogany furniture, which was made 
by native hands from trees grown on the mission farm. When 
this building was completed, there were just three things in it 
which were not the work of the natives,— the glass for the 
windows, the linoleum for the blackboards, and three wall maps. 


FEW WORKERS 


There has always been a lack of workers to keep pace with 
the expanding work. “The Misses Ina and Etta Austen joined 
the staff in 1910, but the elder sister had to return within a 
year, owing to ill health, and the other at the end of two years, 
because of affliction in her family. 

In November, 1910, Brother G. A. Ellingworth came to this 
field from the Bethel Mission, and in 1911 Brother C. Robinson 
from the Barotseland Mission took charge, as Brother Rogers’ 
health had been sadly broken by the strenuous and unstinted 
labor he had given to the work. Sister Rogers stayed on for 
nearly a year, and then joined her husband on furlough, pre- 
paratory to pioneering in Northeast Rhodesia. 

Elder and Mrs. Rogers saw the work grow from weakness 
to strength. ‘They left a strong school, producing each year a 
corps of teachers to extend the work into the villages, and forty 
schools teaching and preaching the message to some two thou- 
sand young people in the school classes, and to hundreds of 
elderly people who would gather around the teachers at their 
services to listen to the words of salvation. 

Brother Robinson continued the same lines of development, 
strengthening the village work, and raising the standard of the 


MALAMULO MISSION, NYASALAND ay 


teachers year by year. Miss E. Edie joined the staff in 1912, 
devoting her time to the girl boarders and the women in the 
near-by villages. Since Sister Edie went to labor in South 
Africa, the Christian women pay her a touching tribute by 
praying for their “ Donna” who taught them to live clean 
Christian lives. 

For several years the boys’ dormitories had been overcrowded, 
so 1914 saw the erection of three long brick buildings to ac- 
commodate the boys, and a small cottage for the preceptor. 

In 1915, Sister Irene Fourie, a graduate nurse, joined the 
staff, and started regular medical work. ‘The close of that 
year saw a modest hospital building, with helpers ready to min- 
ister to the many physical ills that afflict the native, especially 
during infancy. Unfortunately, we were compelled to curtail 
this work, as it soon grew beyond the power of the staff and 
the funds available. 


THE FIRST CAMP-MEETING 


In 1918 the first camp-meeting was held for the native 
Christians in this field. This proved such a blessing to the 
people that it has become an annual institution. 

The year 1922 opened with a church membership of 743, 
and with 1,194 more in classes preparing for baptism, making 
a total of 1,937 keeping the Sabbath. “There were fifty-seven 
outschools, with an average attendance of 4,126. “The average 
attendance at the Sabbath meetings was 5,491, and 1,132 young 
people were to be found in the Missionary Volunteer Societies. 

The Malamulo Sabbath school has to be accommodated in 
two buildings, as the church cannot hold the 400 who gather 
each week, and a separate preaching service is also held in the 
vernacular school building. [he dormitories are again over- 
crowded, many begging to be allowed to stay on any terms 
offered, and yet it is necessary to turn away at the opening of 
each term enough pupils to make a good-sized mission school. 








The Difference 
What the gospel does for the raw heathen 


A WEEK AT THE MATANDANI 
MISSION, NYASALAND 


FROM THE WIFE’S POINT OF VIEW 


THE following graphic description of the daily routine of 
life at a mission station, is taken from a diary kept by Mrs. 
G. A. Ellingworth, whose husband is now superintendent of 
the Nyasaland Mission field: 


FIRST DAY 


This morning we planned an early breakfast, so that we 
could get away to our several duties,— my husband off to a 
hill school, and I to a little village in the valley, to make the 
acquaintance of the women. Some I found at home, but others 
were away at their gardens. Some of the women looked promis- 
ing, and seemed responsive to kind treatment, and I hope to 
know them better later on. 


‘ ? 


On returning home I found a man waiting for “ medicine’ 
to take to his village for his child who has a sore on the leg. 
I explained that it was of no use to give him medicine, but 
that he must bring the child to me so that I could see what it 
needed. 


After lunch two boys came from an outschool to have their 
ulcers dressed. “Then I had classes with the teachers, who walk 
in from the near-by schools. 


Later, when my husband had-returned, we sat on:the-veranda 
enjoying the beautiful hills which surround the mission, when 
the native supervisor of this section of schools came along to 
announce his return from a tour he had just made to a number 
of the schools. He told of some of his experiences, and then 
went away after arranging to return and render a full report 
in the evening. 

39 


40 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


SECOND DAY 


Just after breakfast, the man of yesterday returned with his 
child. The ulcer proved to be a very bad one. We thoroughly 
cleansed the leg with sunlight soap, and then dressed the wound. 
The patience of the child during the painful process was touch- 
ing. We gave her an orange to reward her. Probably to- 
morrow, though she has borne the dressing well today, she will 
kick and scream rather than come again, and the parents will 
weakly submit to her wishes; and when next we ask why they 
didn’t come as arranged, they will laconically say, ‘‘ She re- 
fused.” 


Just as I had finished giving this treatment, a teacher came 
in from a school about seven miles distant. As my husband was 
away, I had to interview him and receive his monthly report, 
and give him his pay envelope. ‘Then he told of his Missionary 
Volunteer Society. He reported nineteen live members in his 
school, and asked for stories to use on their “ Program Day.” 
I managed to find two suitable stories, and went over one with 
him, translating difficult portions so that he would get the 
meaning. He went away to translate it, and will bring it to 
me for revision before he attempts a public performance. Now 
it is lunch time, and the typing I promised my husband to do 
for him is not even touched. 


After lunch I did the typing, and at 2 Pp. M. went down to 
the school session, and later had the four teachers for special 
instruction. Returning home again, I found the regular ulcer 
cases waiting to be attended to. 


About sunset one of our teachers, who has a school a day’s 
journey from the mission, appeared at the door and said he 
had brought a sick baby. We went out and found the baby with 
its mother. ‘They had traveled since early morning to get help 
for the child, who was very hot and had diarrhea. We learned 
that he had been sick at intervals for months, but that he had 
been ill like this for only three days. 


They loosened the little fellow from his mother’s back, and 
we saw that something was seriously wrong besides this acute 


A WEEK AT MATANDANI MISSION, NYASALAND 41 


illness, for the child was emaciated, and though two and a half 
years old, could neither walk nor talk. Perhaps he has chronic 
malaria, perhaps hookworm. However, our business is to treat 
this present diarrhea and fever, and later they must take him 
to a doctor. ‘The thermometer registers 105.7°; we must be 
very careful. We gave first a graduated bath, then a dose of 
castor oil, and off they went to the home of our hospital super- 
visor for the night. 


THIRD DAY 


As soon as I was up, the parents were here with the baby. 
It is still very ill, but the symptoms are more encouraging. 
Another warm bath, and a dose of bismuth is administered, and 
as the temperature is down to 101°, a dose of quinine also. 
We shall see him again at noon. 


Soon after breakfast a woman came from the hills with a 
sick child. ‘Then a man came for mankwala (medicine) for 
“itch.” A man brought his wife to have a tooth extracted, 


but I told them to return in the afternoon, when my husband 
would be back. 


Here is the baby again, and must have another dose of bis- 
muth and another of quinine. I feel encouraged about him, as 
he is responding well to the treatment. 


In the afternoon came the regular school items, then the 
ulcers, and just when I thought I was through, a teacher came 
to ask for medicine for his wife, who had burned her leg. 
Luckily the blisters were not broken, and I selected something 
from my meager store of medicines, and outlined a treatment. 


Later came the sick baby again. He was decidedly better, 
so my husband told the teacher he could return to his school 
in the morning, but must leave the mother and baby here for 
ten days or so, that we may watch and treat him. 


Finally the supervisor came in, and plans were laid for his 
next trip. As we knelt in prayer together to ask the Lord’s 
blessing upon his efforts, we felt His presence very near to us, 
and our native brother asked most earnestly that he might be 
used of God in the saving of souls for His kingdom. 


42 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


FOURTH DAY 


The baby is much better; temperature down;.no sign of the 
diarrhea during the night. He looks like a different child. 
Today we added orange juice to his diet. 

Later came the child with the leg ulcer, having been two 
whole days without a dressing. “True enough, she had “ re- 
fused ” to come yesterday, the parents affirmed in a casual man- 
ner, as though that was all there was to be said. I warned them 
that if they wanted the leg to heal, they must come regularly. 

Later another small girl was carried in with her big toe eaten 
by a terrible sore, so that there was no nail left —a revolting 
wound. Poor child! it is a painful process, for me as well as 
you, though perhaps you don’t believe that! 

Just as I finished this, there was a messenger to say that our 
teacher at Donda school, about eleven miles away, had died 
suddenly the night before, his body not being found till this 
morning. It seems incredible, as this very man was here late 
yesterday to see my husband about his school. My husband is 
away, and so is the supervisor, but luckily the Missionary Vol- 
unteer secretary is home for a few days, so we have sent him 
to Donda to see to matters. 

After lunch I went to the village to see one of the women, 
then back to the classes, and later on,,the ulcer cases demanded 
attention. [here was a new patient this afternoon, but the 
sore was not a very bad one. 

In the evening the secretary returned and made his report. 
It was only too true that the teacher was dead. ‘The funeral 
is to be tomorrow. 


FIFTH DAY 


We had an early breakfast so that my husband could get off 
to the funeral. He had to walk, as the donkey is dead. I had 
planned to go too, but our little girl is ill. 

Today the baby is doing splendidly and is quite playful. 
The two girls with ulcers arrived, but the father of one said 
he cannot carry her any more, as she is too heavy, and his village 
is too far. I asked him if he could arrange for her to stay with 


A WEEK AT MATANDANI MISSION, NYASALAND 43 


one of our villagers for a while, but he said she would not be 
content to be away from home. I strongly advised him to take 
her to Blantyre Hospital, and leave her there for treatment. 
The wound needs dressing at least twice a day. 

At noon the baby came for his midday quinine. After lunch 
we had the reading class. “There was no regular school today, 
for the teacher and senior students went to the funeral. I 
finished with the ulcers at 4 Pp. M., and then my husband re- 
turned. The funeral was a Christian one, the Christians pres- 
ent outnumbering the heathen. In the village was the sound 
of singing of Jesus’ love instead of the usual hopeless heathen 
wailing. 


SIXSDHS DAY, 


The baby is so much better that it is a pleasure to see him 
now. 

After breakfast a teacher came in to say that his three-months- 
old baby was sick. We inquired about its symptoms, and gave 
him a dose of castor oil for it, with directions to let us know 
later how it is getting on. 

A woman came with a sick baby tied on her back. The im- 
pression we make on these mothers depends far more on the 
kindliness with which we treat the little curly-heads on their 
backs than on all our art of prescription, and it is lucky for 
some of us that this is so. Fortunately, in most cases a dose of 
castor oil is all that is needed, and the mother turns up smiling 
next day, attributing wonderful powers to the medicine of the 
missionary. 

Just before noon a novel deputation appeared. I went out- 
side, and found about a dozen little boys seated on the ground, 
so I asked cook what they had come for, and with repressed 
amusement he explained that they had walked twelve miles or 
so because, though they had seen white men, yet they had never 
seen a “ Donna” (white woman) nor white children. ‘They 
gazed at me, and when my children came along, they stared 
at them, but not a word did they say, even to one another. 
This evidently was a momentous occasion. After they had gone, 


44 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


I asked cook what their impressions were, but he said they would 
not venture a word here, but that they would talk when they 
got back to their village. 

The afternoon was quiet and peaceful, and as the sun was 
sinking low and we heard the bugle calling, we turned toward 
the little church in the valley for the vesper service to welcome 
the Sabbath. We looked up to the lovely hills all around us, 
and felt a deep affection for the place, and we thanked God 
for the many opportunities for service that He had given us. 
Though the week has called for no heroic deeds, yet we feel 
that He would have us show these people how to live and do 
the everyday tasks that come to them in a way that becomes a 
Christian. We must show them how to live on the plains, 
if we want them to be ready to live on the heights by and by. 





Missionaries’ Homes, Malamulo Mission 


THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY AT WORK 


Exper A. P. Ponp (now deceased) tells in the following 
graphic manner of his work as a medical missionary while at 
the Malamulo Mission, Nyasaland: 

Medical missionary work is a boon to the natives of Nyasa- 
land. The diet of the people of this country, the lack of hygiene 
in their village life, and the happy-go-lucky life they lead, all 
tend to lower their vitality. Consequently they cannot resist 
any unusual strain, privation, or inroad of disease. 

The news that free medical attention can be obtained at a 
mission, is heralded far and wide. From thirty to a hundred 
people gather at our small hospital daily to seek a fresh lease of 
life. Most of them come with tropical ulcers. These running 
sores range in size from a half inch to six inches in diameter. 
Usually they are on the lower limbs, originating from some 
trifling abrasion, perhaps from a hoe cut or a thorn scratch which 
has become infected by filth. 

Our method of treating these is to cleanse them carefully with 
some weak disinfectant, stimulate the tissues around them with 
heat and cold, and then apply a wet dressing of Dakins’ Solution. 
We have seen some remarkable cures from these simple methods. 
On the other hand, we find some very obstinate cases which 
take months to heal. 

Another frequent cause of disability is stomach trouble, 
brought on in many cases by gorging with great quantities 
of starchy food. ‘The white sweet potato is one of the com- 
monest articles of diet. It is easily grown, requiring, when 
planted in new soil, no attention until the time of harvest. 
When freely used, it clogs the digestive tract, and gives the 
missionary many opportunities to dispense Epsom salts. 


GROSS IGNORANCE AMONG NATIVES 
Dysentery carries off half the children that are born in the 
kraals. Infants are very early in life fed on the thick porridge 
the natives make of maize. Many of the children who survive 
45 


46 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


have abdomens greatly distended. One can easily imagine the 
suffering of these little ones from the flatus which causes this 
distention. It is a common experience for our medical mission- 
ary to be called out of his bed to ease the pain of some feverish 
little child. 

Occasionally an epidemic of conjunctivitis sweeps through a 
village. As the natives have no idea of isolation, they are unable 
to check its progress. With these cases a drop of argyrol solu- 
tion in each eye works wonders. “Today we treated twenty- 
eight pairs of eyes for this complaint. 

The missionary should be an expert in the use of forceps for 
the extraction of teeth. Unfortunately, the people of this land 
seldom come to us with an offending molar till it is very badly 
decayed, and consequently difficult to extract. 

The mosquitoes, though not so numerous here as in many parts 
of the world, are the Anopheles variety, by means of whose bite 
the malaria germ enters the human system. Sometimes we have 
an unexpected run of malarial patients, and this depletes our 
stock of quinine. 

The headaches these people suffer are fearful. Many boys 
are left very weak by the ravages of this disease. Happily, it 
seldom causes death. 


SMALLPOX AND LEPROSY 

Smallpox is no less severe in this country than in the land 
of the white man, but for some reason it is less dreaded. ‘This 
is also true of leprosy. “The superstition of the natives aids the 
spread of this loathsome disease. Almost every day we see 
some little boy who has contracted leprosy by being made to 
rub medicine upon the body of a leper. ‘The native doctor 
informs the parents that there can be no cure unless a small 
boy applies the ointment. ‘There are two lepers residing at 
this mission, but no one manifests any fear of the disease. 

The natives sleep on bamboo mats spread flat on the floor. 
In the middle of the hut they keep a fire burning. Sometimes 
children are brought to us with terrible burns, caused by their 
having rolled into the fire, or with scalds from tipping over the 
earthen cooking pot which stands on a stone near the blaze. 


THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY AT WORK 47 


The gratitude of the mothers as we apply the soothing picric 
acid solution, is reward enough for the missionary. 

Some of these sons of the jungle stay for a long time in the 
hospital with us, so they have many opportunities to become 
acquainted with the Great Physician, and go away knowing 
how to tread in the steps of Him who “went about doing 
good.” 

MEDICAL WORK IN MASHONALAND 


Concerning our medical work among the natives in Mashona- 
land, Mrs. Edith A. Hodgson says: 

The natives always address the missionary’s wife as 
“ Mother,” and this certainly best describes her position, as 
she is constantly called upon to attend to the aches and pains 
of her large family, not only of mission children, but of natives 
who come from miles around for medicine and treatment. We 
find that by these means, like our Master who went about heal- 
ing the sick, we are able to gain the confidence of the people, 
and have opportunities to impress them with the story of the 
great Medical Missionary. 


SUPERSTITIOUS NOTIONS 


The natives, as a rule, have strange ideas as to the cause of 
pain. I have often been called upon to “ kill the snake in the 
ear,’ or “the worm in the tooth.” ‘Their word for stomach- 
ache is manyoka, which means “ snakes,” and it is often difficult 
to convince them that it is not some living creature that is 
causing the trouble. 

They also have strange and amusing ways of describing their 
ailments. For instance, one of our boys who was able to speak 
a little English, brought his small brother and asked for medi- 
cine for appendicitis. When asked to locate the pain, he put 
his hand under the left arm. “This, he thought, was the name 
of the malady from which his brother was suffering, as he had 
““a-pain-in-de-side.” Another boy brought his brother, who was 
subject to fits, and said that he had “died” three times, and 


asked if I could give him some medicine to prevent his “ dying ” 
again. 


48 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Scalds and burns among little children are the most common 
accidents brought for treatment. Just as they are beginning 
to walk, they so often step into the hot ashes or fall into the 
open fires. It is pitiable to see some of these poor little babies, 
and to hear their cries when their wounds are being dressed. 
They usually need our constant personal care to prevent septic 
poisoning, as the native mothers have very little idea of clean- 
liness or how to care for their children. 

Colds, headaches, teeth extractions, and malarial fever are 
common, everyday occurrences, and need “ Mother’s” care. 
The natives of this area are all infected with malaria, and it is 
seldom that one of our mission family is not down with fever. 

Not infrequently are we called upon to combat infectious 
diseases. Owing to their insanitary methods of living, the 
itch is common among the village people. I have known, not 
only whole families, but whole villages to be infected. Cases 
are brought to the mission in which this filthy disease has eaten 
great wounds into the flesh. 

Terrible beyond description are the ravages of syphilis. 
Among this people, living as they do in filth and sin, it finds 
fertile soil, and yet they come innocently to ‘“‘ Mother” for 
help. Our only means of rendering help is to isolate them, 
and give the mercurial treatment recommended by the govern- 
ment. This in some cases gives temporary relief, and we send 
them away, knowing too well that this loathsome disease will 
reappear sooner or later in an advanced form. ‘There is no 
more pitiable sight than to see these poor sufferers approaching, 
supporting themselves with their hands upon their knees, with 
this terrible disease in its tertiary stage, gnawing at their very 
bones. ‘They plead for relief, and we are so helpless to relieve 
them! 

Our large mission family does not escape the visits of measles, 
Kafir pox, dysentery, ophthalmia, and other diseases. Not only 
do these epidemics cause us much anxiety with our native mis- 
sion family, but I have known the time when my husband and 
I and all our own children have been suffering with ophthalmia 
at the same time, it having been conveyed to us by flies from 
suffering natives coming to the mission for treatment. 


THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY AT WORK 49 


If we had properly equipped dispensaries at all our missions, 
we could not only do more effective medical work, but our 
missionaries and their families would be saved much incon- 
venience and suffering, and the cause saved many precious lives. 
The four stones erected in our little European cemetery at this 
mission tell of the supreme sacrifice made by Inyazura mission- 
aries in their efforts to bring life and healing to these benighted 
people. 

Though the risks in such work are great, we do not lose 
sight of the greater compensation we find in the hope of one 
day meeting many of these people in the new world, where sin, 
sickness, and suffering will be forever done away. 


NATIVE MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 


Most of our native teachers at the main station receive a little 
training in medical work. ‘They spend a few weeks in the 
hospital, and learn when and how to administer simple medi- 
cines, give simple water treatments, and dress wounds. 

They find this training of great value to them when they go 
out to teach in the village schools. It also helps to break down 
prejudice, and lets the people know that the teacher is there to 
try to help them. 

Andrew, one of the teachers connected with the Malamulo 
Mission, told of the great opposition he was meeting at his 
school, from some of the women. One woman, especially, was 
very bitter, and forbade any of her children to go near the 
school. If they did go, they got no food that day. Needless 
to say, they did not attend regularly. 

After a time some of her children became ill with severe 
tropical ulcers. She tried native medicine men, but without 
any good results. As a last resource, she went to Andrew for 
help. He was only too pleased to help, and daily he faithfully 
bathed and dressed the sores. In a short time the ulcers healed, 
and the woman was overjoyed. She now insisted that all her 
children attend school, and she herself came regularly to the 
Sabbath meetings. Thus the “ right arm of the message ” broke 
down the opposition, and Andrew was able to teach the good 
news of salvation to another heathen family. 

4 


purjojnseg ‘uUOIssIPy jonUeWUIY Je Sioqayy YOInyD INQ Jo swWos 





PIONEERING IN BASUTOLAND 


Near the close of the year 1909, the South African Union 
Conference committee asked Brother and Sister H. C. Olmstead 
to go to northern Basutoland, and open up a new mission station 
in that populous native Protectorate. Accordingly, during No- 
vember of that year, Brethren H. C. Olmstead, M. E. Emmer- 
son, and M. D. Kalaka made a short tour into that country. 
In that mountainous section, the most common mode of travel 
is on horseback, and so Brethren Emmerson and Kalaka rode 
Basuto ponies, while Brother Olmstead kept up with them 
on a bicycle. 

After looking over a part of the country and deciding upon 
the district in which the station should be located, they visited 
the great chief of northern Basutoland, Jonathan Molapo. He 
consented to an interview, and for two hours they laid their 
plans before him and discussed the matter. In Basutoland no 
land can be bought,— it must be granted by the chief, and 
therefore his approval was imperative. 

Before this he had met some of our people, and had been 
somewhat prejudiced. But God answered the prayers of the 
three missionaries and granted them favor with him. Finally 
the old chief said, ‘““ You may look over my country, and when 
you find a suitable site for your mission station, come and let 
me know. ‘Thanking him heartily, they continued their journey 
for a few miles and made camp. 


A VISIT FROM CHIEF JONATHAN 


‘The next morning a messenger arrived, saying that they must 
wait, as the chief was coming to see them. He came in a Cape 
cart, accompanied by some of his counselors and people on 
ponies. He said he wished to point out two sites, either one of 
which would be granted for a mission. Since they seemed fairly 
satisfactory, one was accepted, and the chief was heartily thanked 
for his kindness. 

51 


52 - -‘MiSSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


On the first day of January, 1910, Brother and Sister Olm- 
stead, with a native interpreter, reached the vicinity of the 
mission site to begin operations. ‘Their few belongings were 
transported in a small wagon borrowed for the purpose. Chief 
Jonathan had loaned a large stone shed with iron roof to “his 
missionaries,’ and this served as temporary quarters for the first 
few months. 

LABORING AMID DIFFICULTIES 


But the enemy had not been idle. Other missionaries had 
learned of our plans, and had interviewed the chief. ‘They 
begged him not to grant us a mission site, saying that we would 
teach the people a different religion and bring in confusion 
among his subjects. After a long discussion with them, the wise 
old chief summed up his reasoning with them as follows: 
“You want to put blinds by the eyes of my people, as we do on 
the bridles of horses, so they can see but one way. I want them 
to see all around.” 

Then a protracted controversy arose among some of the lesser 
chiefs as to just where the mission should be located. Finally, 
after four months’ waiting, a representative of Chief Jonathan 
came and pointed out a new site. Since it was a good location, 
this was accepted, and work was begun on it without delay. 
But a month later, word came from the chief that his agent had 
shown them the wrong place. “Therefore he visited them him- 
self, with hundreds of his people, and before them and a number 
of underchiefs he pointed out the bounds of the site he wished 
us to have, and said, “ These are your missionaries, and there 
will be no more changes made in the location of their mission 
station.” “This was the largest and best site of the four, and 
on this the station was developed. It consists of twenty-four 
acres of good soil, and is twenty-five miles from Ficksburg, 
Orange Free State, and ten miles from a railway siding. 


TWO YEARS IN A THATCH-ROOF HUT 


As soon as a hut could be erected, the chief’s stone shed was 
vacated and the smaller dwelling occupied. ‘This had two 
rooms, with walls made of sods cut with a spade from the 


PIONEERING IN BASUTOLAND 53 


pasture lands, and laid directly in the walls. The floor was of 
earth plastered over with a mixture of mud and cow dung, 
while the roof was of thatch grass. Owing largely to delays 
in receiving mission funds, the permanent cottage could not be 
completed, and therefore Brother and Sister Olmstead lived in 
this hut for nearly two years. “There was no money for furni- 
ture, so boxes served as chairs, cupboards, chests of drawers, 
bookcase, legs to the bed springs, etc. As soon as one room of 
the new stone house could be completed, they moved into it. 

When the stone shed was vacated, a day school was opened 
in it, with Brother Kalaka, a native convert, as the teacher. 
The enrolment quickly grew to forty pupils. The school was 
conducted in the chief’s building for two years, then the parti- 
tion was removed from the sod hut, and this served as a school- 
house until the permanent school building was completed. The 
hut had been vacated only a few weeks, when a whirlwind 
carried away the roof. 


OPEN-AIR MEETINGS 


From the first month, the workers conducted open-air meet- 
ings in the native villages near the mission. Other missionaries 
had been operating in Basutoland for sixty years, and the people 
were skeptical of the “ new religion.” It was more than a year 
before any braved the reproaches of their people and began to 
observe the Sabbath and attend a baptismal class. Persecution 
from their people tried them from the very first. 

Medical missionary work was early given its proper attention 
at the mission, and every day a number came for treatments or 
simple medicines, or to have an aching tooth extracted. “This 
is usually an important branch of missionary activity in Africa, 
and at Emmanuel Mission it was later developed by Brother 
F. Macdonald until it occupied the larger part of his time. 

After a time Brethren Olmstead and Kalaka began a regular 
series of meetings in the villages within about five miles of the 
mission. Since the mission had no tent, the largest huts pro- 
curable were used, and these were nearly always packed to the 
utmost capacity, the people, except a few of the leading men, 


54 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


sitting on the floor. With only one small door and a tiny 
window for ventilation, the air sometimes became so thick that 
the lamps would actually go out. ‘The natives in these parts 
grease their bodies with rancid butter in order to make their 
skin supple and shiny, and to keep out the cold; and when they 
became warm from being packed so closely in the hut, the stench 
was almost unbearable. However, it was under these conditions 
that our evangelistic work was begun. As a result, the influence 
of the mission was widened, the attendance at the Sabbath serv- 
ices increased, and a few were led fully into the truth. 


PLANTING TREES AND BUILDING HOMES 


As soon as a fence had been erected around the mission site 
to keep out the horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and fowls 
belonging to the natives, it was plowed and a large part of it 
planted to fruit trees and vines, with a border of eucalyptus and 
other trees around the boundary fence. Chief Jonathan was 
much interested in tree planting, so a few trees were given him. 
The missionaries helped him to plant them and to prune his 
older trees. ‘This, together with the general conduct of the 
mission and their attitude toward him and his people, served to 
strengthen his friendship year by year. 

It was found that there was an abundance of good sandstone 
near the mission site, and as soon as funds were in hand for the 
erection of permanent buildings, this stone was quarried and 
cut into shape. Three splendid main buildings were then 
erected, consisting of two dwellings, and a church and school 
combined. Later there were erected a students’ home, and a 
dispensary for treating the sick. 


PERSECUTION FOR THE TRUTH 


Several of the early converts suffered much persecution in 
living the truth. The wife of an underchief was forbidden to 
attend the Sabbath meetings or to keep the Sabbath. But in 
spite of frequent beatings, she always came, and refused to work 
on the Sabbath. Once her husband came into the meeting and 
dragged her outside, where he kicked and beat her and forced 


PIONEERING IN BASUTOLAND 55 


her to go home. Although told many times by her husband to 
go away and leave him forever, she faithfully did her home 
duties and remained with him. 

Then one rainy morning he threw her clothing outside the 
house, and commanded her to go. She returned to her mother’s 
kraal to live. All her relatives told her that she had done wrong, 
and should do as her husband commanded. Soon the chief came 
and took her home again, saying that she must now obey him, 
and not go to church any more. However, she persisted in her 
loyalty to the truth and in attendance at the meetings, in spite 
of continued persecution. 

Finally her things were again thrown out of doors, and she 
was driven away. ‘This time she secretly went to the Orange 
Free State, and began work in the home of an Adventist family 
living there. It required three months of diligent searching by 
her husband before he found her again. “Then one night he 
and his brother went and brought her home, and again she 
appeared at our Sabbath services. 

About this time one of the husband’s horses was badly gored 
in the side by an angry bull, and for many weeks Brother 
Olmstead went daily to treat the wound until it was well. 
Finally the chief called our missionary, and said that he was 
defeated, and would offer his wife no more opposition in 
anything she wished to do. Soon his eldest son accepted the 
truth, and then, one by one, all the members of his family. 


FORCED TO BREAK THE SABBATH 


Another woman was literally compelled by her husband, a 
village headman, to work on the Sabbath. But if he left the 
house on a Sabbath morning, she would hurry away to the 
services at the mission, two miles away. “Thus she would some- 
times arrive hours early, and again very late. Beatings with a 
leather thong could not stop her. But when he remained with 
her, she could not go, and was forced to work. The mission 
workers finally made her case a very special subject of prayer, 
and within two weeks the husband was taken sick and died. 
Thus she was free, and is still loyal to the message. 


56 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


RANTSO SHAI 


In the Herschel District, a native reserve outside of Basuto- 
land, named after the famous astronomer, our work had a 
peculiar beginning. A Mosuto man by the name of Rantso 
Shai, who was working on the farm of Brother C. C. Cloete 
(a European), accepted our faith. “To him it was the pearl 
of great price. When Brother J. R. Campbell visited the 
farm in 1915, he found Rantso full of zeal, and working for 
his fellows. Natives stopping overnight on the farm often 
listened to Rantso half the night, as he told them of the 
wonderful truth he had found. 

Rantso had had no schooling, but could speak Xosa, Sesuto, 
and Dutch. He was also able to read the Bible in his own 
tongue. When asked why he did not give all his time to 
preaching the message, he decided to do so, and shortly after- 
ward returned to his own home in the Herschel District and 
began work. It was not long before a number were ready to 
be baptized, and in course of time the Qubira church was 
organized. 

Some fifteen miles from here, a native minister of another 
denomination was holding meetings on Sunday at Chief Mpoke’s 
kraal. He asked the chief to build a hut for him where he 
could keep his clerical robes, and could change when he came 
to hold meetings. The minister said that he knew of a man 
who could build well, and so Rantso Shai was sent for to put 
up the building. Rantso, like Paul, had to work with his 
hands as well as preach, for he received no assistance from 
the mission. 


“THE SABBATH CHURCH ” 


While Rantso was preparing to build, the chief asked him 
if he did not know of some other church which he could recom- 
mend, because he did not care for the church represented by the 
minister. Rantso told him of the Sabbath church, and of the 
mission at Emmanuel, and the good work it was doing. The 
chief said, “ We will see which is the right church. Next 
Sunday you and the minister can tell us, and I and my coun- 
selors will judge.” 


PIONEERING IN BASUTOLAND 57 


On the day set, the minister spoke first, and occupied much 
time, but could give little convincing testimony from the Bible. 
He also tried to prevent Rantso, who was a layman, from 
speaking. But the chief was determined, and Rantso spoke, and 
gave a convincing talk from the Bible. “The chief and his men 
were convinced that Rantso was right, and that the Sabbath 
is God’s day. He immediately ordered the minister to go, and 
not to come back again, for he was going to have the true 
church and Rantso. 

Rantso went immediately to Emmanuel Mission, and told 
Elder Campbell of the situation. In a few days, in company 
with another brother, Elder Campbell set out to investigate 
this unusual interest. Rantso hurried on afoot before them 
through the night, a distance of about fifty miles, to announce 
the coming of the Sabbath missionaries. “The brethren were 
met about fifteen miles from the chief’s place by his men, who 
escorted them to the chief’s village. As they neared the village, 
they were greeted by a great company carrying a white flag. 
This was the sign of welcome. ‘That night a meeting was held 
in the chief’s house, and the next morning they were shown a 
good piece of ground, where a schoolhouse and church could 
be built. 

A neat little building has been erected, which serves as both 
schoolhouse and church building. A good bell has been pro- 
vided, which can be heard for miles over the hills, and of 
which the chief is very proud. 


PREJUDICE AND OPPOSITION 


The enemy has opposed our work here from the beginning. 
Some of the other chiefs, under the influence of other mission- 
aries, have done their utmost to close up the work. “Twice the 
chief has been hailed to court for allowing us to enter, but each 
time he has won the case, and the work goes on, although 
opposition is still active. We are glad the work is of God, and 
that opposition cannot stop the onward march of God’s message. 

Several have now been baptized at this place. A heathen 
girl by the name of Nobomvu, in her red-ocher-smeared blanket, 


58 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


heard the message, and her heart was won to God. She dis- 
carded her red blanket for a dress. ‘This did not meet with 
the approval of her heathen father and brothers, who were 
afraid they would not be able to demand so many cattle for 
her when she should be married. “The opposition was quite 
natural, for the cattle received on the marriage of the daughter, 
help provide means for the marriage of the brothers. ‘The 
brothers took away her dress, and compelled her to wear her 
evil-smelling blanket. But this heathen dress covered a true 
Christian heart, and she lived the truth in her home. ‘Time 
passed by, and the missionaries were not aware whether or not 
she had given up her struggle for the truth, until some months 
afterward, when Elder Campbell visited this district to baptize 
the first fruits of our work there. Her father, seeing he could 
not change her purpose to serve the Lord, at last surrendered, 
and allowed her, without active opposition since that time, to 
keep God’s commandments. 

Nobomvu’s little brother Berry is also a faithful Christian, 
and though his father has not yet allowed him to be baptized, 
he has the assurance that he is one of God’s children, and is 
longing for the time when he can become a full member of the 
church. 


AN OASIS*IN A’ TREELESS (COUNTRY 


The work in Basutoland has continued to make steady ad- 
vancement year by year, and the mission has retained the favor 
of Chief Jonathan Molapo and of the people. Frequently the 
chief sends a present of some kind to the mission workers, and 
they in turn sometimes send him a little gift of fruit. With 
its many fruit and forest trees, the station is a beautiful oasis 
in that treeless country. 

At the present time the membership of the central church 
is about seventy, and the attendance at the Sabbath school and 
the Sabbath meetings averages double this number. There is 
an active young people’s society, and the home missionary work 
of the members has not been forgotten. One of the more 
recent converts is Ledingwana, a favorite son of Chief Jonathan. 


PIONEERING IN BASUTOLAND 59 


STANDING FIRM FOR GOD 


Last year fifty people were baptized in the Basuto field. 
Among these were a chief and his wife. Another chief defi- 
nitely took his stand, and made it very plain to his people and 
counselors that they could not from that time forward expect 
him to hold court on the Sabbath. Shortly after taking his 
stand, he was summoned by a higher chief to leave his home 
on Sabbath to attend a court, but he sat quietly at home until 
Sunday morning, preferring to meet the disapproval of his 
superior rather than dishonor God. 

Thus the present truth is taking firm root in the land of the 
Basutos. ‘This little country is one of the most thickly popu- 
lated sections of South Africa, and its people maintain a kind 
of self-government under the protection of Great Britain. They 
are a high type of native, and seem to be very loyal to the gospel 
when they once accept it. “They have large herds of cattle and 
ponies, and from these many of them become very wealthy. ‘The 
country is exceedingly mountainous, and thus hard to work, 
as travel is difficult; but from this country many dark-skinned 
people will one day help to make up the Israel of God in the 
new earth. 

When traveling with our missionaries in this rugged country, 
the words of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah come forcibly to 
mind: “I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt 
them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of 
the holes of the rocks.” 





Emmanuel Mission, Basutoland 





Chief Ledingwana, Basutoland 


This man, a_son of Chief Jonathan, was converted through the preaching of 
Elder H. C. Olmstead, and despite many severe trials, has proved faithful. 


60 


THE CONVERSION OF CHIEFS LEDING- 
WANA AND RAMPA 


Very few of our people have perhaps ever read a story 
written by an African chief, and especially one who is a 
Seventh-day Adventist, and we are very glad therefore to be 
able to pass on to them Ledingwana’s message, told in his own 
way. As stated previously, Chief Ledingwana is the son of 
Chief, or “ King,” Jonathan, and is now a baptized member 
of the Seventh-day Adventist church at the Emmanuel Mission, 
Basutoland. He has often suffered great hardship on account of 
the truth, but has always remained true to principle, maintain- 
ing his fidelity even when on one occasion his chieftainship was 
taken from him and given to his bitterest enemy. 

He has proved himself to be a loyal friend to the mission, 
and his influence and faithful efforts in behalf of the work have 
greatly assisted our missionaries in gaining the hearts of the 
people in his territory. In the belief that the readers of this 
volume would be interested in a brief story of this man’s ex- 
perience since coming into contact with our work, he was 
invited to write such a story in his own words. The following 
is his reply: 


LEDINGWANA’S OWN STORY 


I first learned the truth from Moruti [Pastor] Olmstead, 
but paid little attention to it. Once Moruti Olmstead had a 
meeting in one of my villages. I was passing at the time to 
my gardens, and stopped to ask him for an explanation of his 
keeping a different Sabbath from that of the French Protestants. 
He gave the reason, and suggested my studying the Bible with 
him. I did so. Having given definite proof, he convinced me 
that he was keeping the day which God had commanded should 
be kept as a holy day. 

Several times I accepted his invitation to attend the Sabbath 
services at the mission. Later, after Moruti Olmstead had left 


61 


62 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Basutoland, the Lord made me ill with what is called appendi- 
citis. I consulted many European doctors, but they failed to 
cure me. Some months after my first bad attack, I had a second 
attack. ‘Then I sent for Moruti F. Macdonald. He took me 
to the mission, where I stayed some weeks. “Che missionaries 
prayed for me, and Moruti treated me almost constantly. I 
left the mission a well man, to attend a Bible school held at 
Bloemfontein. There I fully decided to serve the Lord. 


TES TED AND=TRIED 


I did not then see the test the Lord had for me. I am a 
son of the second chief of Basutoland, and was my father’s 
favorite. He had no objection to my becoming a Christian. 
When I was young, he sent me to Lovedale College to receive 
a Christian education; but after my conversion, some who were 
jealous of my position, turned my father’s heart against me. 

First he cut off a portion of my territory, and gave it to a 
rival, a half-brother. Next he tried to take away my chieftain- 
ship, and give it to my greatest enemy. Eight years before, 
this enemy chief and I had a battle in which some men on both 
sides were wounded. I fought him because he had killed two 
of my men. ‘The British government punished us for fighting 
by sentencing us to imprisonment for’ one year. Now my 
father, Chief Jonathan, not only wanted to give all my territory 
to this man, but also to make me his servant. 

All my friends wanted me to fight, but I would not. I had 
given myself to One who died to save men; then how should 
I meet Him when He comes again after I had killed His people! 
I received good counsel from the representatives of the British 
government. My case was tried in the native courts, and 
judgment was given against me. It seemed that I had lost all. 
The night after my trial I went on my knees and besought the 
Lord to give me satisfaction of heart, that I might know that 
this was His will for me. I did not pray that the judgment 
might be changed, for that seemed impossible after the case 
had closed. 

But the man who condemned me showed a different spirit 
the day after the trial. He himself told me that he could not 


CONVERSION OF CHIEFS LEDINGWANA AND RAMPA 63 


sleep on the night after the trial, for he knew that he had been 
deceived, and that I was innocent. He said that he was afraid 
of God, and also of my departed ancestors, who, because they 
were royal, would injure him for condemning a relative who 
was innocent. (Such is heathen belief.) So he told my father 
that he would withdraw his judgment, and let the paramount 
chief himself try the case. “This was done at a later time, and 
I was acquitted. Some of my enemy’s territory was then added 
to mine. But my father was not yet reconciled to me. For 
many months I was not allowed to go into his presence. 


FORGIVEN AND RESTORED 


One day, quite unexpectedly, he sent for me. I went. On 
my arrival I was taken into his counsel-room. He was there 
with my brothers and his counselors. Probably two hundred 
men were present. He received me kindly, and publicly asked 
my forgiveness. I had never before known him to do such a 
thing. I also sought forgiveness for what I might have done 
that was wrong. He asked if I was satisfied to let him die 
while we were estranged from each other. I answered, ‘“‘ No.” 
‘To show that I was again in his favor, he gave me some cattle. 

Now I am fully restored in my father’s favor as his son and 
as a chief. I have learned the lesson that it pays to obey the 
Lord and then to trust Him. I am doing what I can to teach. 
my people that He is their God, and that soon they must meet 
Him. 

CHIEF RAMPA’S PROCLAMATION 

Elders J. R. Campbell and J. D. Baker conducted tent- 
meetings in 1921 at the village of Chief Rampa in Basutoland. 
The chief is a descendant of Moshoeshoe, the unifier and first 
chief of the Basuto nation. He had gained some knowledge 
of the truth through meeting our workers at the mines in 
Johannesburg, and had come to believe the Sabbath. He is 
quite well educated, and has some knowledge of the world, 
having been a sergeant in the native contingent in France 
during the late war. 

Unfortunately, the weather was not favorable during the 
meetings. It rained almost daily; snow fell on the near-by 


64 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


mountains, and the wind was cold. But in spite of weather 
conditions, our twenty-four foot circular tent was often nearly 
full, as many as 250 people crowding in. ‘The pictures thrown 
on the screen illustrating the subject of the evening were much 
enjoyed, especially by the younger listeners; but for many the 
pictures were not the principal attraction. “They were listening 
to words they had never heard before, and their eyes scarcely 
left the speaker to look at the pictures. 

The chief became thoroughly convinced of the truth, and 
often at the close of the service he would stand up and exhort 
and plead with his people to take heed to what they had heard. 
One Sunday he called together forty of his counselors and 
headmen, and read to them the following: 


“ The People of my Father, I greet you: 


“T inform you that I have been keeping the day of the 
Sabbath for quite a long time, the very one of which the Holy 
Scriptures speak, that is, the very one on which God rested. 
He sanctified it and blessed it. Now I cause you to know that 
I will not do any work on this day, even as you are my witnesses 
that I keep the Sabbath. I do not force any person to keep this 
day, but only I would be exceedingly glad if you could follow 
me in this matter. I say that from'this day, the 20th of 
November, 1921, no person may bring his case to me [to be 
tried] on the Sabbath day, nor get a pass for selling his cattle. 

“T do not ask you to advise me in this matter. I say, I 
moreover affirm, that as long as I live I will go on keeping 
the Sabbath, I and my house. Understand me well: I say 
I do not ask advice of you in this matter, because I am per- 
suaded by the Holy Scriptures that the day of the Sunday is 
the beginning of the week, and of the Sabbath the ending of 
the week, that it is the very one on which we ought to rest. 


“CarLyLE D. RAmpPa.” 
We believe it is in the providence of God that influential 


men are raised up among the Basutos to help in the finishing 
of the work. 


PIONEERING ON THE CONGO BORDER 


No doubt many have wondered just what experiences our 
missionaries pass through in opening up work in new places 
in the mission field and in establishing our mission stations. 
The following story, told by Elder S$. M. Konigmacher, of how 
he and his family went into a wild section of Northern Rho- 
desia, on the border of the Congo, and built up the Musofu 
Mission, will serve to acquaint the reader with some of the 
trials and triumphs of this work of pioneering on the frontier: 


In the year 1916 I left Mission Siding for Broken Hill, the 
largest town in the northern part of Northern Rhodesia, to 
interview the district commissioner in regard to establishing a 
mission station on the border of the Belgian Congo. Arriving 
at Broken Hill in the night, I spread my stretcher under the 
veranda of the railway station to wait till morning. 

After trying in vain to secure a place in which to live or 
permission to put up a pole hut, I pushed on to Ndola, 100 
‘miles farther north. Ndola is the last stop on the railway 
before it crosses into the Belgian Congo. ‘There were only a 
few houses, and all were occupied. 

Returning to the Bwana Mkubwa copper mine, six miles to 
the south, I found the people living in pole huts, but could not 
find one to rent. While there I heard of a Mr. Jenkins who 
had a farm five miles out. He had a three-room hut which 
he occupied, and a brick shell 15 x 30 feet which had been used 
as a cattle kraal. Mr. Jenkins was favorable to mission work, 
and gave us permission to settle on his farm. “The surroundings 
were not pleasant, however, as there was no water except that 
which came from water holes, and so I decided to look farther. 

Finally I came in contact with a Mr. Morris, who agreed 
to allow us to occupy a pole hut at Chondwe Siding, where 
he had a trading post. “This hut contained only one room, 
and was only twelve feet square. “This was not a very promising 
outlook, but it was a shelter, and I decided to bring my family 

5 ; 65 


66 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


here and make this our headquarters until something better 
could be found. 


A WINTRY NIGHT BY THE RAILROAD TRACK 


While at Ndola I had found an abandoned government site 
four miles to the west, through which flowed a beautiful stream 
of clear water. It seemed that this would make a good location 
for a mission, so after filing an application for this site, I went 
back to Mission Siding to get my family. When we returned 
to the siding from the mission with our goods, I had to wait 
forty-eight hours for a freight train. Mrs. Konigmacher and 
our son Arthur went ahead on the mail train, and were put 
off at Chondwe Siding in the middle of the night. “Though 
it was winter, they had to spend the night beside the track 
in the open, as there was not even a waiting shed. 

The hut which we were to occupy was just large enough 
for a bed, a small table, and a very few other things. The 
cooking was done outside over a camp fire. I made several 
trips to Ndola to learn whether the application for our mission 
site was granted, but received no encouragement. 

Knowing we could not spend the rainy season in such quar- 
ters, I made final arrangements to go to Mr. Jenkins’ farm at 
Mwatisi. Again we spent most of the night by the track, 
waiting for a belated goods train. I kept a big fire going while 
Mrs. Konigmacher and Arthur slept, for the lions were not 
desirable visitors, and I had no gun. When the train came, 
we got aboard, and journeyed safely to our destination. “The 
next morning Mr. Jenkins came with boys to carry our loads. 
Mrs. Konigmacher rode a bicycle, and a boy carried Arthur 
on his back. 

LIVING IN A CATTLE KRAAL 


When our loads arrived, we swept the manure out of the 
old cattle kraal, and spread our stretchers on the dirt floor 
with the stars for a roof. We found a few old boards and 
made a door. Wire screen over the window frames was our 
only protection from the wild beasts. One night while there, 
a leopard took a dog which was sleeping in the yard. Lions 


PIONEERING ON THE CONGO BORDER 67 


made frequent visits. Mr. Jenkins loaned us an old sail to 
keep out the heat of the sun. “The whirlwinds blew off the 
sail. We then weighted it down with bundles of grass. 

Finally after a trip to the Maswaka country, I found six 
boys who, with James, our first convert, returned with me and 
assisted me to put on a roof, plaster the kraal, lay a brick floor, 
and build a hut for a kitchen before the rains came on. 

For fifteen months we tried every possible means to get a 
permit to do mission work, and finally our efforts were rewarded 
when, through the kindness of His Excellency Lord Buxton, 
the high commissioner, and His Honor Mr. Stanley, twenty 
acres were granted on the Musofu River. 

Very soon after this we left Mwatisi for our new location. 
On this trip we had a tent, which added greatly to the comfort 
of the journey. We camped two nights on the way, once in a 
native village and the other time right out in the bush. We 
arrived at the farm on Wednesday, and by Friday we had a 
grass-and-pole house in which to make a temporary home. 


OUR FIRST SABBATH 


Our first Sabbath was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, 
the birds were singing, and the natives came from all directions. 
When we thought all had arrived, we gathered them together 
by the side of the hut for our first service. We were fortunate 
in finding two boys who could read a little, and understood 
Chinyanja. They also knew some songs, and Chiwanga could 
translate from Chinyanja into their language. Mrs. Konig- 
macher took the women and girls, and I taught the men and 
boys. . We showed them the beautiful pictures of Jesus on 
the chart. . 

Just as we were closing our service, we saw another dele- 
gation of natives coming around the kopje, and we had service 
all over again. Many asked for medicine for their children, 
and some wanted teeth extracted. 

The pole hut, 15 x 30 feet, was just finished and thatched, 
but the clay floor was not fully dry when we moved in. It 
was none too soon, for the rains had begun. While in the 


68 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


grass hut, we arose one night and pitched the tent over the beds 
to protect us from a shower, as only bundles of grass had been 
thrown on the flat roof to protect us from the sun. A bonfire 
dried out the house and kept us warm. Again the mosquito 
wire on the windows was all the protection we had from wild 
animals. 

We lived this way for a year, and the smoke nearly ruined 
Mrs. Konigmacher’s eyes. A leopard once visited our kitchen 
and scratched around for something to eat, but did no damage. 


TWELVE SLATES FOR ONE HUNDRED PUPILS 


At the end of the first month, after our house was finished 
and we became somewhat settled, we built a pole-and-grass 
schoolhouse. In a few days 100 pupils were enrolled. As we 
had only one primer and a few other books in the vernacular, 
and twelve slates, you can see it was a task to conduct any 
kind of school. 

We arranged our school session to accommodate the village 
people, so they could work in their gardens in the mornings and 
come to school in the afternoons. We conducted separate 
classes for the native teachers. 

As soon as temporary homes could be provided for students, 
we opened a boarding school, into which thirty boys were re- 
ceived the first year. “They cleared away the thorns, weeds, 
vines, dead trees, and undergrowth along the stream, drained 
the lowlands, planted a small vegetable garden for the mission, 
and mealie fields for themselves. 

‘The boys were anxious to go into the villages to tell their 
people the good news. Daniel went to Lipensye to hold a 
service on the Sabbath. As he saw the people going to their 
gardens, he took their hoes away from them and said, ‘‘ This 
is the Sabbath, come and pray.” He had not yet learned re- 
ligious liberty principles. 


OUR FIRST TEACHER 


Chiwanga (Matthew) was a natural evangelist. Before the 
mission was established, he had taught many village people to 
read the New Testament. 


PIONEERING ON THE CONGO BORDER 69 


He had a dream in which he saw two messengers clothed 
in white, the one being much brighter than the other. As he 
was praying, the angel with the most glory told him to rise, 
that a mission was coming into his country. “The Musofu 
Mission was established soon after this, and he came to see 
us at once. He gave up a good position at the mine, for he 
believed in his dream, and felt that God was calling him to 
work for Him. He assisted us in our services, taught in the 
school, took full charge of the mission when I was away, and 
later made a tour of the outschools. 

Often we have heard him singing songs of thanksgiving in 
the middle of the night. His success among his own people 
has been most remarkable. On one occasion he found an old 
man deserted by his people, and dying in his hut. Chiwanga 
cleaned out his hut, which took several hours, trimmed his nails, 
which had grown like bird’s talons, cut his hair, and went into 
the bush to find medicine for his sores. After treating him 
several days, the man was able to get up. Matthew went on 
his journey, and when he returned he found the old man 
walking. 

THES FLU EPIDEMIC 


When the “ flu” came and nearly every one was in bed, 
the people gathered in Matthew’s hut to see him die, but 
though we were both stricken, we had prayer together. God 
in His mercy heard us, and Matthew was restored. Many 
severe tests have come to him. When his children died, he 
was taunted by his people, and told it was a judgment from 
the spirits because he had left the old life and become a 
Christian; but he has never wavered. 


CONVERSION OF A LEPER 


On my first trip to the Musofu River, I stopped in a small 
village near the chosen mission site, and found a young man 
by the name of Chilema lying in a miserable hut built of logs 
which were all leaning toward the center like a wigwam. It 
was evident at once that he was a leper. I entered and prayed 
with him, for he could not come to the center of the village to 


70 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


the service. Chilema stopped smoking, and learned to read and 
write from the boys who could walk to school. When it was 
time for the offering to be taken, he would send in eggs or 
grain for his part. His reports came quite regularly to the 
Missionary Volunteer Society. 

When Elder B. E. Beddoe visited us, Chilema was brought 
to the Sabbath services in a machilla. His filthy rags were 
exchanged for clean clothes. After the service he was carried 
to the river, where thirty-five had gathered to witness before 
their friends their desire to walk in the new way. Chilema 
was transferred to a chair, and was let down into the water, 
and thus baptized. ‘Though he cannot walk on this earth, he 
cherishes the fond hope of one day walking the streets of gold 
in the city of God. 


PROGRESS 


Only four and a half years after we began our work at 
Musofu, two boys who could read the vernacular when they 
started were ready for grade four. Four boys who did not 
know one letter from another had then completed grade two. 
They can read their own language well, write a clear, plain 
hand, repeat many passages of Scripture, and know more than 
seventy songs. Their work in arithmetic is equally good. This 
shows what can be done by patient, persistent effort. 

A Sabbath school has been organized, with nine classes. 
The officers are natives, and conduct their own review. A 
Missionary Volunteer Society meets every Sabbath, and has 
some very interesting experiences to report. A baptismal class 
of thirty is instructed each Sabbath afternoon. We now have 
a church membership of more than sixty, and most of them 
can give a good answer for the hope that is within them. 

In the latter part of 1921 we had a hundred boarders, 
eighteen of whom were girls. One hundred sixty were enrolled 
in the school, and on one Sabbath 269 attended Sabbath school 
and service. Eleven brick buildings, large and small, had been 
erected, consisting of two brick dwelling-houses, a brick church 
with two classrooms in the rear, one dormitory with five rooms 


PIONEERING ON THE CONGO BORDER 71 


for the boys, one for the girls, a hut for the head teacher, and 
several small buildings. ‘There were forty pole-and-grass huts, 
a carpenter’s shop, grain bins, dining-hall, teachers’ huts, and 
lion-proof cattle kraal. 

Nine head of cattle doubled their number in two years, and 
were looking sleek and fat. The boys in the shop made all the 
furniture and the frames for doors and windows, from logs cut 
on the place. Good boards a half-inch thick, eighteen inches 
wide, and eighteen feet long, were sawed from the blood-wood 
logs. Six outschools were started among three different tribes, 
and a self-supporting school on Dr. Stohr’s cattle ranch. 

In the Friday evening prayer and testimony meeting many 
speak of how God has delivered them from sin, protected them 
from wild beasts, snakes, and from getting lost in the bush, 
and healed them of disease. 


THE LION’S GLORIOUS SOLO 


This mission is in the wilds, and wild animals and snakes 
are quite numerous. While lying on the bed one day, we 
saw a snake inside on the window sill nine feet away. At 
another time one tried to crawl under the cushions on the 
couch; another appeared on the mat at our feet. Once I 
thought an old rag was hanging on a porch chair, but when 
I stretched out my hand to lift the chair, the rag began to 
move. During the “flu” epidemic, we killed a big black 
mamba six feet long, which had gorged itself on a_high- 
priced hen. 

A big tarantula was dug out of its hole near the house. 
Natives say its bite means death. I kicked one out of my 
trouser leg with my bare foot. Another thought my sweater 
a soft, warm place to sleep. Leopards were so bold as to push 
open the screen door and take Arthur’s dog. ‘They will steal 
skins drying in the yard. Hyenas pulled poles out of the door- 
way of the goat kraal, and scattered them several yards away. 
One would scarcely believe a hyena could do such a thing. 

The lions have stampeded the cattle, slept in the front yard 
and in the garden. They once came into the back of the com- 


72 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


pound at six in the evening. One sang a glorious solo as he 
circled around the house on his way to the cattle kraal. I 
stepped outside and fired a shot in his direction, and the boys 
from the compound answered, ‘“‘ Twa tota”’ (We thank you). 
Another night three lions kept up a concert till after mid- 
night. While this was in progress, one of them slipped into 
the compound and scratched at Samuel’s hut. He chased him 
off with a firebrand. But the lion returned, clawed a hole 
in the side of the hut, pulled out some clothing, thinking per- 
haps he was getting Samuel or his wife, and took it off into the 
bush, where he tore it to shreds. 

One day, Arthur and I, with about seventy boys, went over 
to the vlez (a kind of marsh) to see the results of a royal battle 
between three lions and a sable bull. The horns of the sable 
were lying near the dead lioness. ‘The antelope had evidently 
gored the lioness, and was then killed by her two male com- 
panions. 


OUTSCHOOLS AT MUKONJE AND LUKOSHI 


The first outschool was. established at Mukonje’s village 
about sixty miles southwest of the main station. On visiting 
this school, I was pleased to find two classes reading the Gospels. 
One couple promised to come to the station to prepare for the 
work of carrying the gospel to their own people. 

While sleeping in the schoolhouse, I arose in the night and 
placed the logs used for seats in the windows, for we heard a 
hyena crying. We were told one had entered a schoolboy’s 
hut and bitten him. ‘Though the boys were near, I could 
expect no help from them, for they were sound asleep. 

At Limbaula the lions were very bad. ‘Three women who 
were cutting grass for the new church said they heard one 
growl. We went out, but could not see anything. ‘That 
evening as we gathered around a big bonfire to hold a service, 
all eyes kept shifting toward the bush. Though we were 
nervous, yet it was a joy to hear the boys and girls sing the 
songs they had learned in school. Oh, how they sang, and 
then we had a short gospel talk, and another song, after which 


PIONEERING ON THE CONGO BORDER 73 


we separated for the night. We were given a strong hut to 
sleep in, and advised not to trust to the tent. During the night 
we heard something at the door, but when I seized the rifle and 
lighted the lantern, I could see nothing there. 

At Lukoshi we were delighted with the fine outschool build- 
ing. It was well plastered, and had curtains made of reeds at 
the windows. ‘The pupils had already learned to repeat the 
commandments, and the general progress was surprising. Con- 
sidering the many centuries these natives have been in gross 
darkness, they respond in a marvelous way to the gospel, and 
prove worthy of help by turning from their wicked ways. 
Surely that will be a glad day when God shall gather His 
elect from the four winds of heaven, and we believe some 
Maswakas will be among the number. 





Bringing Home the Game 


This leopard weighed 186 pounds, and measured 6 feet 4 inches from tip to tip. 


bL 


ase[IA esuojeg VW 




















MUSOFU MISSION, CENTRAL AFRICA 


Soon after coming to the African field in 1920, the writer 
took a trip north to the Musofu Mission, Northern Rhodesia. 
This mission had been in existence at that time for some three 
years, and during the greater part of the time, Brother S. M. 
Konigmacher and his family had been laboring there alone. 

We arrived at Walamba siding about midnight, and were 
met by Brother Konigmacher and about twenty native boys.* 
It was twenty-three miles to the mission station, so we did 
not attempt to go that night. We found that a cheery camp 
fire had been started at the edge of the near-by forest, and a 
small tent had been pitched for the accommodation of the 
visitors. However, as it was only large enough to hold two 
persons, and since there were now four Europeans in our com- 
pany, including Brother Konigmacher, two of us had to make 
beds beside the camp fire. These beds each consisted of a grass 
mat and a blanket. ‘The native boys had constructed a rude 
arbor from the branches of trees, under which they made their 
beds. 

When we awoke in the morning and looked about us, we 
found that we had left behind practically all traces of civiliza- 
tion except the railway, which served as our only connecting 
link with the outside world. We had been put off in the midst 
of a great black nation; and when we realized that this one 
mission, with its two European families, was our only outpost 
in all that vast section, we wondered howethe gospel of the 
kingdom would ever reach all those millions of people. 


EATING FROM BARK DISHES 
We arose at 5 A. M., and breakfast was soon prepared, con- 
sisting of bread and butter and canned ground cherries. The 
natives of our company made porridge of Kafir cornmeal, and 


* All native men are called boys. 


75 


76 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


ate it from bark dishes which they had peeled from a near-by 
tree. As soon as all had finished breakfast, Brother Konig- 
macher gathered the company together and conducted morning 
worship. How those black people could sing! We learned that 
they had known nothing about singing in this way until our 
mission was planted among them, but now it is one of their 
chief delights. 

After worship we were ready to start for the mission. “There 
were three bicycles in the group, and these were allotted to 
Brethren W. E. Straw, Konigmacher, and myself, while Brother 
W. B. Commin, being the lightest of the company, was carried 
in a machilla—a canvas hammock swung from poles and 
carried by four native men. ‘The rest of the men carried the 
tent and our baggage. As our company moved forward over 
the narrow, winding footpath, the woods fairly rang with the 
songs of the natives. As we passed through some villages en 
route, others joined our company, so that by the time we reached 
the mission we had with us a small army, singing and shouting 
and bidding us welcome. 





LUMBER SAWED BY HAND 


We found this mission well situated in a beautiful grove of 
majestic trees. We were surprised to see the general improve- 
ment and progress which had been made in building. “IT’wo 
brick dwelling-houses had been erected, also a large combination 
church and schoolhouse, besides a number of smaller buildings 
and huts for the native students. Every brick used had been 
made on the place, and every piece of lumber had been sawed 
by hand from the forest by the mission students and helpers. 
‘There are no sawmills to prepare the lumber. When we went 
inside, we found that even the articles of furniture, such as beds, 
chairs, tables, and desks, were also handmade. ‘The wood most 
generally used is mahogany. 

We visited the school, and found about 140 students. “These 
students repeated in unison, with scarcely a mistake, the ten 
commandments, the fourteenth and twenty-third psalms, the 
Lord’s Prayer, and many other scriptures. ‘There was every 


MUSOFU ‘MISSION, CENTRAL AFRICA ri 


evidence that this school was doing good work, and that God 
was richly blessing the efforts of those who were laboring there. 

The morning after our arrival, I was awakened by strains of 
music. It was the school students at morning worship. “The 
beautiful strains of “ Jesus, blessed Jesus, sweetest name on 
mortal tongue,” floated across the campus from the school 
chapel. Three years before this, many of these same people 
had never heard of Jesus and His love, but now most of them 
had gladly accepted Him, and their chief delight was to sing 
the songs of Zion which expressed their love for their newly 
found Saviour. 


SUPERSTITIONS 


The natives in this section are very superstitious. Returning 
after a funeral, the pallbearers will stop at the edge of the village 
and wait until some one comes with a firebrand or medicine, 
which he spreads at their feet to keep the evil spirit from return- 
ing to the village. “The corpse is usually trussed up like a sack 
of meal. The women throw themselves on the ground as it 
leaves the village. Only the men go to the grave. Flour is 
sprinkled on the corpse, in the grave and over it. 

All manner of charms are worn. If twins are born, one is 
usually killed; and if the upper teeth come through first, the 
child is killed. When planting the cassava, the natives say that 
if the hand is warm the root will be sweet, and if it is cold the 
root will be bitter. 

The Batongas, the people among whom the Rusangu Mission 
to the south is located, knock out from two to six of their upper 
front teeth. If you should ask them why they do this, they 
would reply, ‘‘ We are cattle people, not zebras.” “They think 
it quite unbecoming to a people rich in cattle to have upper 
teeth when cattle do not have any. In the early days they 
depended almost wholly upon their cattle for a living, but since 
the advent of the European with his plows, they have taken to 
raising large quantities of grain. 

One thing that surprises the visitor among this people is 
the way they greet a person. A stranger is never greeted as 


78 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


he enters the village, or if he is, it is a sign that he is not 
wanted, and must proceed on his way. When he arrives, he is 
left alone a few minutes, and then begins a most profuse greet- 
ing. First he is asked if he is awake, and if he awoke of him- 
self. He then asks each of the villagers the same questions, and 
numerous others, such as, “ Is it cold?”’ meaning, Is all well? 
‘What are you talking about, and what are you eating?” 


NATIVE FEASTS 


What the people are eating always appeals to a stranger, 
because he knows he will be welcome to join in the feast. “These 
feasts are very often held in the villages, and some of the men, 
who are not very industrious, will sometimes spend the whole 
winter going from village to village and partaking of the feasts, 
while the wife and family stay at home and work. 

Some of the native tribes of Africa are very fond of smearing 
themselves with red clay. They also use it mixed with oil in 
their fantastic hairdressing. 


THE AUBURN-HAIRED MISSIONARY 


One of our missionaries found that his auburn hair was a 
great attraction to the raw natives of the interior. Once while 
sitting round the camp fire, he was talking to his boys about his 
homeland. ‘The head boy said, ‘“‘ Yes, teacher, we think that 
you are a big chief in your own country. When we go with 
you around the villages and the people see you, they ask us, 
‘Is your master a chief in his country?’ We say, ‘ Yes, he is 
one of the big chiefs there.’ ” 

I told him, ‘‘ No, I am only a poor man.” 

“Oh, yes,” he replied, ‘‘ we know that you are not rich now, 
but that is because you are a missionary; we think that you are 
honorable in your own country.” 

‘““Mfundisi [teacher],” one said, ‘I have been to Bulawayo, 
and have seen many, many white men; some with black hair like 
ours, some with white hair, and others with hair of other colors, 


but I never saw any one with hair as red as yours. You must 
be a big chief.” 


MUSOFU MISSION, CENTRAL AFRICA 79 


Quite near the mission two of the old prophets and rain 
makers are buried, and the natives for miles around go there 
to worship and pray for rain. Numbers of them pass through 
the mission farm, and as they go back and forth to the rain 
makers’ graves to pray for rain on their parched gardens, they 
often look longingly at the green fields of grain at the mission. 
Some of them realize there is a Being who is able to send rain 
on the mission land, but the greater number feel that it is 
because the white man’s medicine is much stronger than theirs, 
hence the better crops. A native once asked a missionary to 
give him some of the medicine he used to get such good crops. 

As these people come under the influence of the mission, a 
great change takes place in their habits and ways of living; 
and when they become converted, they long to go out and 
tell the glad news to others. 





PS 


Our School at Rusangu Mission, North Rhodesia 


Missionaries Wilson and Walker at the left. 





A Primitive Hut, Ganda, Angola 


80 


GHRISTIANITY WINS IN HEATHEN 
KRAALS 


From Mrs. Helen Walde Wheeler, of the Musofu Mission, 
comes the following interesting story of experiences in con- 
nection with their work there: 

“ Ttinerating in the bush of Central Africa” is a well-known 
expression to many readers. But actually to make from time 
to time a 250-mile trip by bicycle along these narrow, crooked 
footpaths, with only a few native carriers as companions, brings. 
many an interesting experience to the missionary. 

It is not alone the footprints of the lion and the howl of 
other wild beasts; not the malaria mosquito nor the tsetse fly; 
not the jiggers, fleas, and ticks, robbing the tired missionary of 
comfort by day and sleep by night; nor the many different 
streams to be crossed; nor the heavy showers that drench the 
traveler,— it is not alone these that lend to the trip an atmos- 
phere of adventure. ‘The real thrill, like that which comes from 
reaching the very summit of some lofty peak and looking over 
the valley below, is felt when one witnesses the complete vic- 
tories Christianity wins in these heathen kraals. 

To see a native transformed, his once-beclouded mind realiz- 
ing clearly God’s great love for him, a poor heathen; his heart, 
once fearful and tormented by spirit worship, now fearless and 
strong in the faith that God is good; his body, once under 
subjection to Kafir beer drinking and other vile practices, now 
free and clean, ready to work for his fellow beings,— this 
brings a thrill of joy to the heart of a missionary that far out- 
weighs the so-called sacrifices he has made and the privations 
he has endured. 

Such was our joy when twenty-five fine young people from 
one village came to join the baptismal class at the mission. ‘They 
had forsaken their evil ways, and were now eager to learn more 
about the Christ who had set them free. Other villages were 
hearing the call, and in a few months our roll call had increased 
remarkably. 


6 81 


82 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


One day four young people came twenty miles to join the 
baptismal class. Their faithfulness in winning others is in 
itself a sure evidence of their complete conversion. Today, 
from twenty-one villages, 140 persons have come into this class 
preparing for baptism. Where a few months ago they were 
still slaves to their heathen customs, they now rejoice in the 
truth of God, and walk ten, fifteen, or even twenty miles every 
week to attend Sabbath services at the mission. 


HUNGRY FOR THE BREAD) OF LIFE 


And now they call for schools. We are unable to answer 
all these calls, but, like the importunate widow, they keep 
coming. At our recent camp-meeting the believers from the 
village which sent us the twenty-five candidates for baptism, 
came in a body, and through an able speaker presented their 
request for a teacher. 

When we see such hunger for the bread of life, and hear the 
petitioners promise to provide a home for the teacher, build a 
good schoolhouse, and walk many miles to gain permission from 
the government for the establishment of such a school, we can- 
not ask them to keep on waiting. Oh, how they thanked us 
when we told them a teacher would be sent as soon as arrange- 
ments could be made! 


A REMARKABLE DREAM 


Not only is the missionary to the African natives expected 
to be able to do and to know everything, but he is often called 
upon to interpret dreams, some of which are very remarkable. 

Jane was one of our leading members at a certain mission, 
and often conducted the women’s meeting. At her conversion 
she had put away Kafir beer and the use of tobacco, for the 
Kafir women are inveterate drinkers and smokers. It is a 
common thing to see them about their work, smoking long 
wooden pipes. This woman had also turned from other heathen 
customs, and so far as we knew lived a faithful Christian life. 

On one occasion she came to Elder W. Hodgson in great 
distress of mind, and with tears streaming down her cheeks 


CHRISTIANITY WINS IN HEATHEN KRAALS 83 


said that after hearing his last sermon she had had a dream that 
greatly disturbed her mind. Could he tell her the meaning? 

He told her that he did not attach much importance to 
dreams, as people who eat heavy meals late at night, as the 
Kafir people do, often have strange and distressing dreams. 
But he had to admit that God had often spoken to His people 
in dreams. 

So she related the dream, in which she said she and Sister 
Mary (another leading sister) had been cleaning her house. 
They had taken everything out, and whitewashed the walls, 
so that the house was beautifully clean within. “Then two 
women came in smoking their pipes. “The smoke was so dense 
that it began to darken the walls, whereupon she and Sister 
Mary were so grieved at having their work spoiled that they 
drove the two smoking women from the house, and would not 
let them enter again. 

The dream had so impressed itself upon her mind, and 
she was so sorely troubled about it, that she decided to ask 
“mfundisi”’ to interpret it. Seeing the opportunity to make 
this an object lesson to her and the others who had gathered 
around listening, Elder Hodgson said that possibly, after her 
heart had been cleansed from sin, she had allowed something 
to enter that had defiled the temple of the Holy Spirit, and 
pointed out how this would grieve God. 

Poor Jane was so convicted that she cried out between her 
sobs: ‘‘ Inyaniso! inyaniso! mfundisi [It is true! it is true! 
teacher]. I have been smoking secretly, and my heart is defiled. 
I thought no one saw me, but now I know that God saw me.” 

‘There and then she reconsecrated herself to the Master’s 
service, and sought a fresh cleansing from all that defiles the 
temple of God. 


SLibsenAR VES le DRUCYSISSGREAGT. 


About a year ago the Solusi Mission ventured into a new 
line of service,— that of doing evangelistic work in the towns. 
Jim was sent to Bulawayo to work. As he sold literature and 
gave Bible studies to the people, they became interested, and 


84 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


several accepted our faith. Many of these are well educated, 
and five of them are already actively engaged in teaching the 
gospel to others. 

But this is not all. As these people heard the message in 
Bulawayo, they in turn told their people and friends in other 
districts. “Then Jim would be called to go and teach them. 
These people in turn would tell others, until it became impos- 
sible for one to follow up the work. Jim said, “ O, I wish I 
could cut myself into fifty pieces, so I could get to all these 
places and teach the people the ways of God!” If we had 
fifty able workers, a mighty work could be done here. Some 
of these natives, by their earnestness and zeal, set our white 
people a good example, and God is blessing their labors. 

Last year we sent out an evangelist, and as a result we have 
been forced to send out three more, and still there are calls 
unanswered. It is hard to hear whole districts calling for some 
one to come and teach them the truth, and be unable to respond. 
One man made a pitiful plea for help, but we could not send 
any one then. He said, “I thought surely I would take some 
one back with me to teach my people. Now I must return 
with no one, and disappoint them.” 

This same man came to me at the meeting and said, “ I am 
going home and count my cattle, my goats, and my chickens, 
to see how many are the Lord’s. ‘Then I shall give the Lord 
His own.” ‘This shows true conversion. It proves that the 
man is in earnest. He came from Bush ‘Tick, where lives the 
big Matabele chief who recently accepted our faith, and who, 
although himself not yet baptized, is holding a regular weekly 
baptismal class of twenty-four members because we can send 
no help. 

One of our boys, on his way to the Solusi meeting, took a 
trip farther to the south and west into an unentered country. 
While there he held several services, and four accepted the 
message. Now these with their people are calling for help. 

“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray 
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth 
laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2. 


PRESSING ON AMID DIFFICULTIES 


How God repeatedly delivered from danger and death His 
servants who trusted in Him, is interestingly told by Elder 
William Hodgson: 

Andrew was one of a number of Christian natives who were 
led to accept present truth and come to Inyazura Mission, 
Mashonaland, for further training. Being a man almost fifty 
years of age, he made slow progress in school, but gained a good 
knowledge of Bible doctrines, and became a loyal and faithful, 
if not a bright student. He was given the responsible position 
of overseer of our mission girls in their manual labor. 

After spending a year with us at the mission, although we 
wished him to stay another year, he decided to return to his 
home kraal, where he had left his wife and family. “There he 
prepared a prayer hut, where he met daily and on the Sabbath 
with his family and any others who wished to join him in the 
study of the precious truths with which he had Seas ac- 
quainted. 

About that time the old chief of the Mahongwe tribe died, 
and a new chief was to be appointed. ‘This, of course, is a 
very important event in the history of any native tribe, and 
is attended with many and varied ceremonies, some of which 
are of a most revolting nature. 


HUMAN SACRIFICES 


It is an ancient custom of this tribe to sacrifice two human 
lives. Certain parts of their bodies are taken, and with the 
similar parts of the body of an animal, are stewed together. 
The broth is then given to the new chief to drink, and amid 
wild and frantic dancing and singing he is proclaimed a great 
and mighty chief. 

Now that the country is under British rule, such things are 
prohibited, and can be done only with the greatest secrecy. 
They are usually intrusted to the subtle skill of the witch 
doctor, 

85 


86 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Although the government has done much to put a stop to 
such evil practices, it is impossible for an earthly government 
to change the hearts of men; and notwithstanding the fact that 
the British commissioner slaughtered two oxen and made other 
provisions for a great feast, they were not satisfied until they 
had at least attempted to fulfil the traditions of their heathen 
ancestors. 


WAYLAID IN THE BUSH 


Before many weeks had passed, Andrew returned to the 
mission in a very distressed state of mind, with the request 
that he might be allowed to remain, and this time bring his 
wife and children with him, for, he said, the mission was the 
only safe place for him now. On inquiry, it was found that 
several times he had been waylaid in the bush by three men 
who approached him with the intent to take his life. 

Knowing of the desire of the people to carry out the cus- 
tomary ceremony in connection with the appointment of the 
new chief, and recognizing these men as emissaries of the witch 
doctor, he discovered that he was the marked man, and escaped 
only by being able to outrun his pursuers. He could not say 
why he should have been chosen, except that since he had 
become a Seventh-day Adventist he was very unpopular among 
the people of his neighborhood, who had sought to drive him 
from the village. The witch doctor was wise enough to choose 
an unpopular person; and the reason for his being attacked in 
the bush was that should his mutilated body be found, his death 
could be attributed to wild beasts. 

Having no reason to doubt his story, as these customs are 
too well known to the missionaries in Mashonaland, the mission 
wagon was sent to Andrew’s kraal, and his family, his grain, 
and his few belongings were brought to the mission. Here they 
found a refuge from the cruelties of heathen customs and the 
diabolical practices of the witch doctor. 

His children are now in our school, and Andrew himself is 
continuing his studies, and at the same time giving faithful and 
valuable help at the mission station. 


PRESSING ON AMID DIFFICULTIES 87 


To those of us who are called to carry the advent message 
into the dark places of the earth, the gracious promises of God’s 
Word are most precious; and where the darkness is most dense, 
the lamp of truth shines brightest, and truly becomes a lamp 
unto our feet and a light unto our path. 


The statement of D. L. Moody, “If the people will not 
come to church, the church must go to the people,” applies to 
none more than to the missionary in Africa; and in order to 
get to the people, he must be prepared, like Paul, the first great 
foreign missionary, to pass through “ perils of waters,” “ perils 
by the heathen,” “ perils in the wilderness,” “in weariness and 
painfulness,” “hunger and thirst.” But like Paul, he may be 
ever conscious of the presence of the angels of the Lord, leading, 
protecting, and delivering him in times of danger. 


IN THE LAND OF LIONS 


One expects the missionary in a tropical country to write of 
his encounters with lions and leopards. But it is not my busi- 
ness to hunt wild beasts, so I do not put myself in their way. 
I believe that God has put within them a fear of man, and 
they will seldom attack him unless he ventures dangerously 
near their haunts. Although we have crossed and recrossed 
their footprints on the trail time and again, have been told of 
their presence in the neighborhood, have heard their roar, and 
have had to make large fires, sleeping in the open with the loaded 
gun near by, while they doubtless have been prowling around 
or crouching in the long grass or thickets as we passed; yet in 
the providence of God we have been protected from them. 


It is not the wild, ravenous beasts that the traveling mission- 
ary in a tropical country dreads so much as the malarial fever. 
The very nature of his work —traveling as he often does on 
foot, climbing mountain passes, wading rivers, and crossing 
swamps where the grass is often twelve or fifteen feet high, 
and which in the mornings is so covered with dew as to make 
one wet to the skin while passing through it, in the daytime 
exposed to the heat and at night sleeping in the open, exposed 


88 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


to malaria-infected mosquitoes — makes it impossible always 
to escape this dread disease. 


STRICKEN BY FEVER 


I remember on one occasion I had to pass through some very 
rugged country. “The native paths over the mountains were 
so precipitous that I could not take a mule or even a pack 
donkey. ‘This journey in the terrific heat of the sun so fatigued 
me that it brought on a very severe attack of fever. When 
I reached the outpost, I could not stand. ‘The fever caused 
vomiting, so that I could not retain quinine, and a hot bath 
was positively out of the question. I appointed one of the boys 
to conduct a meeting with the people, and then gave them some 
instruction how to fix up a stretcher in case I should become 
delirious, as is usually the case when the temperature runs very 
high, so that they could carry me to the railway, eighteen miles 
distant. I then committed myself to the Lord. 

In the morning I was thankful to find that my temperature 
had dropped, and although weak and feeble, I was able, by 
resting betimes, to press on, carrying the gospel message. It is 
at these times that one is comforted and strengthened by this 
assurance: “‘ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet 
of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that 
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that 
saith unto Zion, -Thy God reigneth! ” 


CROSSING A RIVER IN A BUCKET 


In the beginning of 1918, which was an exceptionally wet 
season, it was necessary for me to make a trip away out into 
the Mahongwe country in Mashonaland to complete the build- 
ing of an unfinished brick church that was being damaged by 
the heavy rains. 

I had spent the Sabbath in Umtali, attending Elder Sturde- 
vant’s meetings. My family was located there at that time. 
On Sunday I started off with my bicycle and a bag of pro- 
visions strapped to my back. It was a long push to the top of 
Christmas Pass, and before I reached the summit, the storm 


PRESSING ON AMID DIFFICULTIES 89 


clouds gathered around the tops of the mountains, and then 
broke in a furious storm. ‘This delayed my progress and made 
the road so muddy and slippery that it was too dangerous to 
ride down the other side of the mountain. 

I made my way to a point on the Umtali River where there 
were some gold diggings and a footbridge across the river; 
but owing to the delay caused by the storm, I did not reach 
the river until after dark, and then only to find that the foot- 
bridge had been washed away by the floods. 

I discovered that the miners had stretched a cable across 
the river, on which ran a pulley wheel attached to a large bucket. 
The miners’ and boys’ quarters were all on the farther side, and 
I could not make my voice reach them, for the rushing, flooded 
river roared between us, and everything was too wet to make 
a fire and thus attract attention. 

There being no shelter on this side, and as I was wet through, 
I decided to attempt a crossing. I pulled on a loose rope, and 
pulled the bucket to me. I tied my bicycle to the side, put in 
my provisions, and seated myself astride the bucket. The 
great weight carried me swiftly to the middle of the cable, 
but I found that to pull up on the other side was a much more 
difficult task than I had anticipated. ‘There I hung in mid-air 
and in dense darkness, with the surging torrent beneath me. 
At times I thought I should have to hang there all night; but 
after strenuous efforts on my part, pulling on a greasy cable, 
and I believe by superhuman power from above, granted in 
answer to my call, I managed to reach the other side. 


CARRIED UPON STRONG SHOULDERS 


On I pressed in the dark to the next stream, which was now 
a flooded river. At this point I met a strong young native man, 
a perfect stranger to me, who offered to help me across. He 
first carried my bicycle over, then came back and took me upon 
his shoulders, landing me safely on the other side. 

The next stage of the journey was to be made on donkeys. 
I got two natives as guides, and a young Dutchman to assist 
me in the work on the building. All went well until we came 


90 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


to the Odzi River, where we hoped to cross by a footbridge 
at an electric power station where power is generated and 
transmitted over wires many miles away to the Penhalonga 
mining camp for crushing ore. But those donkeys would not 
cross the bridge. So there was nothing to do but send one 
boy back with the donkeys, and with one boy as guide to 
proceed on foot. 

We soon found that our guide was not sure of the road, and 
as he took us many miles out of the way, we were again be- 
nighted far from our destination, with yet a number of streams 
to cross. We had to call upon natives on the way to show us 
the crossings. 

Continuing our journey, we found the unfinished church, 
and soon had it protected from the weather. Eventually it was 
completed. 


-JUMPRY 


One of these streams ran through a narrow, deep gorge. 
The stones were covered and the current was strong. ‘The 
native leaped to the middle of the stream and stood upon a 
submerged rock. “ Jump to this stone!” he said. My young 
friend jumped, and with difficulty managed to get a footing. 
Then I jumped, but it being dark and the rock submerged, 
my foot slipped, and I went down into the current. Had the 
Dutchman not grasped my coat, I should have been carried 
downstream and drowned, or dashed against the rocks and 
killed. 

In all these experiences I have found the Lord ever true to 
His promise, “ When thou passest through the waters, I will 
be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow 
thee.” 


CROCODILES AND LIONS 


A request for teachers had come to us at Inyazura Mission, 
from beyond the Sabi River, and as I was preparing to go to 
investigate these calls, my boys informed me that we must pass 
through a very dangerous country. It was full of lions, they 


PRESSING ON AMID DIFFICULTIES 91 


said, and the rivers full of crocodiles. So we decided to take 
two guns. 


Philemon (or Panganayi, his native name by which he is 
better known) is licensed to carry a gun. He is a born 
hunter; his father had been one of the hunting party conducted 
by Selous, the famous big-game hunter in the early days of 
Rhodesian history. Nothing pleased Philemon better than to 
be on the trail with a gun; but it so happened that we had very 
little use for the guns on this trip, for were we not out on the 
Lord’s work, with His angels clearing the way before us? 


On these missionary tours we usually camp near a village. 
A European could not sleep in a heathen Mashona hut even 
if he wished to do so. The huts are dark, without windows 
or any other means of ventilation. “he goats and chickens all 
sleep in the house at night with their owners, for protection 
from wild beasts, and most of the huts are infested with vermin. 


So we prefer to select a tree or bush near by, and there make 
our camp fires and sleep in the open. As soon as the fires are 
well going, our boys begin to sing hymns. ‘This draws the 
people, old and young. When they are comfortably seated 
around the fires, we take the opportunity to tell them the story 
of the Father’s love and His promise of eternal life. 


A TROOP OF BABOONS 


Once on this trip we felt tempted to use the guns as we 
passed a deserted village about 100 yards from the path. The 
village had been taken possession of by a large troop of baboons. 
The old ones sat about on the rocks, basking in the sunshine, 
much as the native men do; the little ones played about like 
children, while others ran in and out of the deserted huts. 
‘They barked at us as we passed, but were loath to leave their 
new-found home. ‘The sight was too human-like and interest- 
ing for us to make up our minds to shoot. ‘These animals, al- 
though they will seldom attack a person, are very destructive 
to the natives’ gardens, and we are asked by the natives to fire 
at them as we pass, to drive them to the mountains. 


92 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


When we came to the Macheke River, I found it to be the 
most dangerous river I have ever crossed. At that point it was 
no less than 200 yards wide. We waded through the main 
stream waist deep, and although I had the help of two boys, 
the current was so strong and the bed of the river, being solid 
rock, was so slippery that I could not keep on my feet. ‘The 
natives with their hardened feet, being used to walking without 
boots, are able to get a better grip on the rocks, although it is 
dangerous even for them to cross in so strong a current. 

As we broke camp the morning after crossing the Macheke, 
I was feeling very ill. Before we had gone many miles, I found 
that the dreaded fever had a grip on me. We halted to speak 
to a group of people reaping their fields, and I lay down with 
my head in the shade of a small bush. ‘There I had to remain 
prostrate for the rest of the day. Fortunately, I had two 
lemons with me. With one I was able to prevent nausea, and 
with the other, after the boys had boiled some water, I had a 
hot drink to promote perspiration. By evening I was feeling 
relieved. 

We moved nearer to the village for the night, where we held 
the usual camp-fire service, and proceeded on our journey the 
next morning. As we passed through one village, the old 
headman assured me that I was the first white man that had 
ever been to his village. He had heard of Elder Sturdevant, 
but had not seen him. 

By pressing on, we made up for some lost time, and managed 
to reach Mawiti’s kraal by nightfall. Mawiti is a subchief, 
and although a heathen, is a very fine, large-hearted man. He 
was well acquainted with Brother F. B. Jewell, my predecessor 
as director of Inyazura Mission, and he proved to be my 
friend also. He fed my boys, and gave me a hearty welcome 
to stay at his village as long as I wished. 

I was glad to have another good night’s rest before crossing 
the Sabi River into Chief Mambo’s country. I selected a camp 
site near a large bush, got one of the boys to cut a bundle of 
long grass for my bed, and was soon at rest, hoping to sleep 
off the fever before morning. I slept until sunrise. 


PRESSING ON AMID DIFFICULTIES 93 


When I opened my eyes, I noticed a strange object in the 
lower branches of the bush. On closer observation, I found 
that a venomous snake more than four feet long had shed 
its skin as it passed through the branches just above my head. 
It seemed as if the snake had left this to show me, as David 
did with Saul, that he had been within striking distance, but 
could not harm one who was under the protection of the Lord. 

Thus while pressing forward to the ends of the earth with 
the gospel of the kingdom, amid dangers and perils on every 
hand, we know that “ He is faithful that promised,” ‘“‘ Lo! I 
am with you alway, even unto the end.” And in response to 
His great commission, we press on to the completion of the 
work, knowing that although “ many are the afflictions of the 
righteous,” yet “the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” 





Transport Service 


BIZY JsamMyWwosg ‘diyjg wridey ‘ayig uorssipyY MaN 94} uO dwey 





AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 


THE loyalty and fidelity of some of our native workers is 
marvelous. One teacher recently told of being sent with an- 
other worker to a far-away district, to open up school work in 
this new section. He said: 


“Two schools were opened, with thirty-five and sixty pupils, 
respectively. Soon afterward a famine arose in that country, 
and we were unable to obtain food. Many days we had to 
hunt for wild honey in order to have anything to eat. 

‘““One day my companion teacher said to me, ‘ We must leave 
this place, or we shall die of starvation.’ 

“ But I said, ‘ No, the One who owns me will know what 
to do with me. Other people are still living here, and we 
can also.’ 

“So we remained a few weeks longer. Again my companion 
came and said, ‘Now we must go.’ 

“T said, ‘ All right, you may go if you like, but I shall stay. 
If these people die, I will die with them, but I cannot leave 
them. “They must hear the gospel.’ 

“T took charge of both schools, going to and fro between 
them through the rains to keep them going. ‘The people said, 
‘You will die doing this.’ (This is a fever country.) 

“ But I said, ‘ That does not matter. God knows about me, 
and I trust Him.’ 

“The two schools have grown till now the attendance is 166. 
I became very weak before vacation time, but I am still alive, 
and now I know that God was working for me.” 

On the last Sabbath at one of our Nyasaland camp-meetings, 
a call was made for those to rise who were willing to consecrate 
their lives to the service of God, to go anywhere He might send 
them to give the message. Almost every one in the large 
audience arose. It was a very solemn occasion. After this 
meeting, the head deacon of the mein station church, who is 


95 


96 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


also a teacher in the mission school, handed Elder Ellingworth 
the following note: 


“ DEAR FATHER: 


“ Beginning with the first day of our camp-meeting until 
today, my heart is troubled about this work, and today I have 
chosen to give myself a sacrifice, even to’leave all for this work’s 
sake. I want to answer the question the Lord asks in Isaiah 
6:8, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ I am 
not satisfied with being just a hearer; I am ready to leave house, 
garden, mother, even children, that those afar off may hear the 
gospel. 

“T am your helper, 


“SIMON KALILOMBE.” 


This well represents the spirit of both workers and people 
at this meeting. We feel sure the gospel has found lodgment 
in good soil in Nyasaland, and that this field will produce a 
plentiful harvest for the kingdom of God. 


YOUTHFUL MISSIONARIES 


When we call for volunteers to leave home and go out into 
distant lands, away from their family and kindred, these people 
respond nobly. “They are willing to go anywhere and do any- 
thing for the cross of Christ. We have had men, this last year, 
who have gone into the famine-stricken areas and lived there 
without anything whatever in the way of food except what they 
could gather in the woods,— wild honey, weeds, and things of 
that kind,— because there was no food in the villages. They 
would die of hunger rather than give up their post to go back 
home and leave those people in darkness. Some of them would 
have stayed there until they actually died, if they had not been 
called away by the missionaries in charge. ‘They believed that 
God had sent them there, and that they should remain and 
teach the gospel to the people. 


AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 97 


SPECIAL PROVIDENCES 


We have many evidences of the special providential workings 
of the Spirit of God. Students go out from our mission schools, 
and are lost so far as the mission is concerned,— that is, we lose 
track of them. But after a while we hear of an interest spring- 
ing up over in another village, and when our workers go over, 
they discover that some student who has gone home from the 
school, who has been in the mission perhaps one or two years, 
has started a work over there on his own responsibility. 

On one of our trips we met a young man who said to Elder 
J. Victor Wilson, ‘“ You must come home with me. I am in 
trouble.” 

Elder Wilson asked him what the matter was, and he replied: 
“T have a big school over in my village, and the authorities 
are after me.” 

A native is not permitted to operate a school unless he can 
show that he is directed by Europeans, and this young man 
was working on his own responsibility. 

Elder Wilson said, “I cannot go, for I must go back with 
Elder Branson and Professor Straw.” 

But we said, “ You go on with him, and we will go back 
alone.” 

He went, and later reported that he found fifty students in 
this boy’s school. A number of them had accepted the message. 
The boy himself was not a baptized believer, but had been at 
the mission station a year, had imbibed the inspiration of this 
message, and was teaching it to the boys of his village. He is 
now back in our station, receiving special training. 


WITH OUR NATIVE EVANGELISTS 


The following letter, written by one of the native evangelists 
of South Rhodesia to Elder W. E. Straw, then superintendent 
of the Zambesi Union, reveals the spirit of these native workers, 
and answers the question so often asked, ‘‘ Do missions pay?” 

“Just before the close of our good institute, I thought best 
to go to my old home at Bush Tick. As Brother Jim Mayinza 
has wished for a long time to go and hold some meetings there, 

7 


98 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


he urged me to go that way. So on the 4th of April we left 
the Solusi Mission for Fig Tree station. In order to reach home 
next day, we needed to take the goods train which passes Fig 
Tree before midnight. But we were told, even before we left 
Solusi, that the natives are not now allowed to take goods trains. 
What should we do? Brother Jim said to me, ‘ We must go 
and pray to God about it, that He may overrule so we shall 
be allowed to take the goods train.’ 

‘““On coming to the station, we saw the station master, and 
told him our wishes, but he said he could not help us. 

‘““ After that we went and prayed, asking the Lord to help us. 
My plan was that if we should miss the train, I with the other 
teachers would go to Gwelo, my present home, the next day. 
But Brother Jim didn’t want that. 

‘When the train came, we all ran toward it — many of us. 
I made known our wishes to the guard. He only said, ‘ I was 
told that I should not pick up any one.’ I said that we wished 
to catch the train leaving Bulawayo early the next day, and 
that we had seen the station master, to which the guard said, 
‘The station master has nothing to do with the train.’ 

“Then Brother Jim said, ‘ Can’t you take two boys?’ And 
the guard said, ‘ All right, you two can go.’ So we did go. 
All the others were left behind. We saw ciearly that the Lord 
wanted us to go and visit Chief Mayjinkela, one of the leading 
indunas (chiefs) of the Matabeles. His grandfather came with 
the king of the Matabeles from Zululand. 


A VISIT TO CHIEF MAJINKELA 


“We reached the chief’s kraal on the evening of April 5. 
‘That evening we held a meeting with the people. In the morn- 
ing we told the chief that we wanted to hold two meetings every 
day, and he must tell the people, which he did. At noon we 
had one meeting, but not many people came. In the evening 
more came, and our attendance kept growing every day. 

‘The interest deepened till the house was too small to hold 
them; and then a larger house was given us. ‘The Spirit of 
God did indeed help old Brother Jim to break the bread of life 


AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 99 


to these hungry souls. ‘These people had heard God’s words 
many times, and they have a good brick church building; but 
after Brother Jim spoke to them, I heard some old grandmothers 
with white hair say, ‘ These words are as good as though we 
hear the word of God for the first time.’ At the close of the 
meetings twenty-four took their stand to keep the Sabbath. 

“After each meeting Brother Jim would give time for the 
people to ask whatever questions they liked. This was a good 
occasion to all, for their questions brought forth many points 
which otherwise would not have come up. 


THE CONVERSION OF MATALAZANA 


‘Shortly after meeting, Jim and I would go out of the house 
to give the people a chance to talk about what they had heard. 
We usually went away from the kraal to pray for God to give 
light to the people. 

‘““What most impressed the chief about us as a people, I 
think, was this: Last year his younger brother, Matalazana, 
went to the Solusi Mission to school. When he came home 
on vacation, he was altogether a changed young man. When 
we had our institute, all the pupils at the Solusi Mission were 
away on their vacation, so when we came to this chief’s kraal, 
we found this young man there holding a meeting with the 
kraal people each evening. 

“The chief told Brother Jim that he believed we had ‘ big 
truth,’ because it had wrought wonders in his brother. He 
said he was a troublesome boy, and caused the chief much 
anxiety; now he was a good boy, and had left off drinking 
and smoking. | am sure that the preaching of Brother Jim 
and this young man’s life did much to influence these people 
to decide for the truth. The Lord is about to do great things 
for our field if we will only let Him. 


MEETINGS AT BEMBESI 


“Leaving Bush Tick, we went to Bembesi to meet Elder 
H. M. Sparrow. We had good meetings with the Fingu 
people. Here there is much interest. We were all glad to 


100 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


see Brother Samuel Kona, one of the leading native ministers, 
accept our faith and start to keep the holy Sabbath. People 
said that as this man had received the Sabbath, they would 
follow him. Even the big chief said to Elder Sparrow, ‘ You 
have a strong minister in your church.’ One man said to me 
today, ‘ You will have a big church at Bembesi, because the 
son of our big chief has joined your church.’ 

““T was very glad to be with these good workers, Elder 
Sparrow and Jim, and see how they do their work. It is a 
good thing for us young workers to watch the men of ex- 
perience do their work. I was much impressed to see how the 
work was going in this part of God’s big field. 

“IT could not spare the time to work on with these brethren 
in their field, because the work was calling me in my field. 
Elder J. N. de Beer was waiting for me to come back, so we 
could hold some meetings in the big Selukwe Native Reserve. 
We held them after I returned, when thirty-two converts fol- 
lowed their Lord in baptism. Surely the dear Lord is about 
to do great things for this, one of the oldest fields where our 
people began to work for the heathen. 

“T am indeed glad for the institutes which you give us every 
year. ‘These institutes are doing much for us native teachers. 
Now the work is beginning to rise up. 

“T am glad indeed that God is helping the leaders to organ- 
ize the mission field like this. “The future is bright for our 
field. 

“ Dear brother, I remain now, 

“Your boy in Christ, 
“Isaac XIBA.” 


A YOUNG TEACHER 


A little girl between thirteen and fifteen years of age left 
the Solusi Mission station, and the missionaries lost track of 
her; but one of our native evangelists, who calls himself 
“Doctor,” was out preaching in this girl’s village, and met 
her at one of the meetings. She said, ““I want you to visit 
my school,” 


AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 101 


He said, ‘“‘ What! do you have a school? ” 

She said, “‘ Yes, I have been running a school here ever since 
I left the mission.” 

So he went over and visited her school. She was holding it 
out of doors under a tree, with no schoolhouse and no books 
except the primer she had taken home with her. But she was 
teaching those people to read. And that is not all, she was 
teaching them this message. Her heathen mother and six other 
persons had definitely accepted the message as fully as this little 
girl could teach it to them. 


A WOMAN EVANGELIST 


On another occasion a woman went away from the Somabula 
Mission into a district which we had not been permitted to 
enter. We were anxious to send in evangelists and teachers, 
but the government authorities had not given us permission. 

It is an almost unheard-of thing in Central Africa for a 
woman to preach; but this woman, after returning to her home, 
seeing the heathenism all about her, and finding that our men 
could not enter that section to work, felt she was called of 
God to preach this message to her people. So she went out into 
a village, called the people together, took her Bible, and began 
preaching to them. 

She then went from village to village, and God’s Spirit was 
with her, and a great interest was created. About two hundred 
people definitely decided that this message was true. “Then 
they went to the authorities, and urged that our missionaries 
be allowed to enter. “They won the day; so now we have schools 
in those villages, and 200 believers who have accepted the gospel 
as the result of that woman’s work. ‘I met her at the camp- 
meeting, and I assure you she is an interesting character. 


IGNORANT OF OUR PEOPLE, BUT PREACHING 
Wale THAR s! 
At the Bethel Mission, in Kafirland, the brethren told the 
following very interesting experience: 
Some of the students were out holding a meeting one Sunday 
afternoon in a village seven miles from the station. ‘They had 


102 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


been holding meetings there every Sunday for several weeks. 
This Sunday afternoon another man, a native, was holding a 
meeting in another part of this same village, and preaching 
that the Lord is coming the second time, and that the seventh 
day is the Sabbath. Some of the people who had been over and 
heard our boys preach, went up to him and said, “ You are a 
Seventh-day Adventist.”’ 

He said, ‘‘ Who are they? I never heard of such a people.” 

“Why,” they said, ‘‘ they are the people who preach as you 
preach,— that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that the 
Lord is coming again.” 

“Tf there are any such people in the world,” he said, “I 
should like to find them.” 

“Well,” they said, “they are holding a meeting right over 
here, now.” 

He went over with them, and our missionaries met him. 
They had a long visit, and heard his story. He told them he 
had bought a book from a canvasser (“‘ Bible Readings,” in 
English), but he didn’t know who the canvasser was. Out 
of that book he had read the message he was preaching. When 
he began to preach, he was disfellowshiped from his church, 
and was cut off as a worker, for he was an ordained minister 
in one of the mission societies. He said, “I have definitely 
dedicated my life to the preaching of the message that I found 
in that book.” And he also said, ‘‘ I have built a church house 
thirty-five miles from here, and have dedicated it to the preach- 
ing of the Sabbath truth.” 


INTERESTS ON EVERY SIDE 


Thus God is going before His servants, and interests are 
springing up on all sides. People are accepting this message 
and calling for help. 

Some time ago I received a message from the brethren in 
Nyasaland, saying that people were coming to them from 
Portuguese East Africa, that great stretch of country along 
the east coast. People who had come in contact with the native 
missionaries in Nyasaland, had taken the message back to Portu- 


AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 103 


guese East Africa. “They had taken literature with them, and 
as a result there are converts to the truth whom we have never 
been able to visit. 


ON THE TRAIL OF LIVINGSTONE 


It was my privilege to visit our mission workers on a strip 
of new territory called the Caprivi Strip, lying along the Zam- 
besi River between Northern and Southern Rhodesia. It is 
about three hundred miles in length, and varies in width from 
one to one hundred miles,—a country where no missionary 
had ever gone until our representatives went there. 

Chief Chikamatonga, the chief of that strip, sent out a call 
about two years ago, through the British authorities, for a 
missionary. He told them to pass the word on to the different 
mission societies, and let them know he wanted missionaries 
in his territory. 

The word came to Elder W. H. Anderson, who was then 
living in Mafeking, to the south. He started the next week, 
so he was the first missionary in the field. He visited Chikama- 
tonga and a number of other chiefs, and made arrangements 
with them to occupy that territory. “The chief agreed with 
him that the Adventists should have the whole country; and 
it was arranged for two of our native workers to go there and 
begin work at once. ‘These native workers had no sooner 
reached the chief’s village than he sent 120 natives out to gather 
material for putting up buildings; and in a few days they had 
a little schoolhouse and a dwelling-house all ready for the 
work to begin. 

When we visited there, this new work had been in progress 
about a year; and for two or three months we had had two 
young men, Brethren Willmore and Bulgin, in that territory, 
arranging for the establishment of a permanent mission. So 
the work was begun. We went by way of the Zambesi River 
in a paddle boat 100 miles to get to the place. We were follow- 
ing exactly the trail of Livingstone a good part of the way. 
He did not cross the river or establish any work in the Caprivi 
Strip, however, but worked on the north side of the river. 


104 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


A VILLAGE OF BELIEVERS 


We spent three or four days in this place, and on the Sabbath 
day, as we were making preparations to go from our camp over 
to the large village where a chief lived, thinking we would 
hold a service with them, we looked out and saw the chief and 
his whole village coming over to us. “They came and sat down 
under a great tree growing on the banks of the river, and the 
interpreter said, ‘‘ Now, we are ready for the Sabbath service 
to start.” This village had already begun to keep the Sabbath 
as the result of the work that had been done there. So they 
had come over to worship with us on the Sabbath day. 


THESPLEATORSTHESCHIEP 


After the sermon the people were dismissed. I was sitting 
by the table where I had been speaking, out in the open, when the 
old chief came and sat down at the end of the table, and his 
interpreter stood between him and me, and said, “ The chief 
wishes to speak to you.” 

I said, ‘‘ All right; what does he want to say?” 

So the chief began to talk. He asked me all kinds of ques- 
tions. Bear in mind, our workers were the first missionaries 
those people had ever seen. “They knew nothing about God. 
This man began to ask me about God,— whether He was a 
real being, whether He hated or loved people like them. He 
asked me about the future, and the future home of those who 
serve God. He asked me about the condition of man at death, 
— every point, almost, that would trouble a man. He ques- 
tioned me very closely, and then turning and looking into my 
face most earnestly, he said: 

‘““T am very happy that you have come to teach my people 
about God. I know other cquntries have missions, and are 
taught of God; but until now no one has ever come to this 
country to tell us of Him. We have been long in darkness. 
Our eyes are very dark. We have been waiting long for the 
missionary to come and teach us how to find God. Our eyes 
had grown weary in watching for His messengers. I long to 
find God, and to know of the future. 


AFRICAN HERALDS OF THE CROSS 105 


“As you go back to your country, will you not appeal to 
your people to send more missionaries, that all my people may 
know God? For my people are dying, and they know nothing 
of this God that you are telling us about.” 

As he looked so earnestly into my face, his words touched 
my heart, and I said, ‘“‘ My friend, I will. I will plead your 
cause before my people everywhere I go, until they take this 
burden on their hearts, and respond by helping us to send more 
missionaries into your country.” 

Not only are this chief and his people pleading for a knowl- 
edge of God, but there are thousands of native people in Africa 
who are literally crying out for God. Ethiopia is stretching 
out her hands to God, and God has made His people responsible 
for sending them the light. 





Chief Majinkela, and One of Our Leading Believers 











106 


NORTHEAST RHODESIA 


THE territory known to us as Northeast Rhodesia lies 
almost entirely within the boundaries formed by longitudes 
29° and 33° E. and latitudes 9° and 14° S. The altitude 
ranges between two thousand and six thousand feet above sea 
level, and the climate is generally considered healthful for Euro- 
peans. “This does not mean that one may be careless, for even 
here tropical diseases, such as malaria and sleeping-sickness, 
will overtake one who does not observe proper precautions. 
But with care one can keep reasonably free from disease. 

A range of mountains called the Muchinga Mountains, runs 
in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction across the center 
of the entire country, forming a watershed between the great 
water systems of the Zambesi and the Congo. Northwest of 
this range the country is high and undulating, with few hills; 
but southeast of the range the country is more broken by 
mountains and valleys. 

This section is well watered, especially in the north and 
west, where some of the chief headwaters of the mighty Congo 
have their beginnings. The country is almost covered by 
forest, and the trees are of many kinds, some yielding beautiful 
woods suitable for building and furniture making. 

There are many tribes, the chief ruling tribe being the 
Awemba, who occupy the central portion. “These are a war- 
like people, who in the recent past, raided the weaker surround- 
ing tribes, especially in harvest time. ‘They depended upon the 
success of their raids to provide themselves with food. 


WHERE LIVINGSTONE’S HEART WAS BURIED 


In this country lies buried the heart of that great pioneer 
missionary, Dr. David Livingstone. It was here that he ended 
his life’s service, and was found -dead in the little native hut 
where he had taken refuge during his illness. 


107 


108 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Missionary work by Protestant societies has been in progress 
in some sections of this country for twenty-five years or more, 
but the first of our own missionaries to enter were Elder and 
Mrs. J. C. Rogers, who, in 1914, came from Nyasaland to 
select a site and establish a station. Owing to the ill health 
of Sister Rogers, they were compelled to abandon their efforts 
and return to the coast. 


In 1919, Elders W. E. Straw and J. N. de Beer entered 
from Southern Rhodesia, and found their way to a people 
(a branch of the Achishinga tribe) living on the south bank of 
the Kalungwisi River, for whom, as yet, no work had been done. 
The nearest Protestant missions belonged to the London Mis- 
sionary Society, one station being about fifty miles north and 
the other sixty miles south. “The local chief, Kabanda, and 
his headmen welcomed our brethren, and expressed their long- 
ing for a mission station and schools. 


In March, 1920, Brother and Sister H. J. Hurlow were 
released from the Nyasaland field, where the work had become 
well established, to answer the earnest call to this new field. 
As soon as matters could be arranged, they were on their way. 
We will let Brother Hurlow himself tell of the experiences 
they passed through in traveling the one thousand miles neces- 
sary in order to reach their destination, and in establishing the 
work upon their arrival: 


SIX HUNDRED FORTY MILES ON FOOT 


It was the 19th of July before we were able to close our 
work at Matandani Mission, Nyasaland, and begin our thou- 
sand-mile journey across Central Africa to our new field. On 
all this journey the only modern means of conveyance we had 
was the steamboat on Lake Nyasa, which carried us three 
hundred sixty miles, or the entire length of the lake. The 
rest of the journey had to be made on foot or in the machilla. 

Our first stage was from the western border of Nyasaland, 
west of Blantyre, to Fort Johnston, from there by steamer to 
Karonga at the northwest extremity of Lake Nyasa, from 


NORTHEAST RHODESIA 109 


there west by road to Fife, then southwest to Kasama, northwest 
to Mporokoso, then west to the Kalungwisi River. 


A CURIOUS CARAVAN 


Mrs. Hurlow rode the machilla most of the way, while I 
preferred to walk a great deal of the time, as I found this 
easier than the continual jolting of the swinging hammock. 
We traveled early in the morning and late in the afternoon, 
resting in the middle of the day on account of the heat. Our 
furniture also and all our personal effects had to be carried 
by the native porters. 

It was really a curious-looking caravan that might have been 
seen wending its way along the little narrow native footpaths 
in the early morning, and that camped under the shade of some 
friendly tree as the day advanced and the sun became hot. We 
finally arrived at our destination on September 22, a little more 
than two months after we had left our home at the Matandani 
station, Nyasaland. 


A NEW MISSION ON THE CHIMPEMPE RIVER 


We found the site that had been selected by Brethren Straw 
and De Beer, and heaved a sigh of relief as we realized that 
we could here make our camp for the last time, and not have 
to plan to move on again in the morning. ‘The site is beauti- 
fully located on the bank of the Chimpempe River, and near a 
great waterfall. We set about at once to do what we could 
to provide temporary quarters before the rains came on, as it 
was almost time for the rainy season to set in. 

Our first duty on arriving was to erect a mud-and-pole 
house. Just three weeks after our arrival, the rains broke, 
accompanied by terrific thunder and lightning. But the Lord 
helped us, and by the end of the fourth week we were out of 
our tent and within four walls covered by a thatched roof. 
Then followed houses for the two native teachers and their 
wives, who had accompanied us from Nyasaland. One of these 
teachers and his wife left three of their young children behind 
at their home, taking only the baby, in order that they might 


110 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


the better answer the call to act as missionaries in a strange 
part of Africa. 


SPEAKING THROUGH AN INTERPRETER 


We erected a big shed, to serve as store and workshop, and 
for a time this was used for Sabbath meetings as well. We 
began meetings on the first Sabbath. We could not speak the 
language, but had a house boy, whom we had engaged on the 
journey to look after our culinary department and to act as 
interpreter. We found him to be a Christian, he having at- 
tended one of the missions in north Nyasaland. 

We believe the Lord sent this boy to us, for he is an earnest 
seeker for truth. The second Sabbath he was with us he threw 
away his tobacco, and since that time he has been learning and 
accepting more and more of our faith. 

Through him we made an attempt to speak to the people. 
‘They were not used to being in a religious service, and talked 
freely to one another during the meeting. As we had no hymns 
in Chibemba, we began singing one of the Chimanga’nja hymns 
we had sung in Nyasaland, but were promptly told by the 
people that we must sing in their tongue. 

By the next Sabbath I had procured some small hymn books 
and New ‘Testaments from the London Missionary Society’s 
station, and since then the work has been growing. ‘The people 
have been coming to the meetings very regularly, and there 
are sixteen names on the register of the Bible class we have 
formed. 


LACK OF MEANS A BARRIER 


In March last I had to leave the station to attend committee 
meetings at our Rusangu Mission, six hundred miles distant, 
and was delayed in returning, with the result that I was away 
a little more than three months. On my return I found a 
few natives who had come from different directions within 
a radius of a hundred miles of the mission, with the request 
that they be permitted to enter school. Some of them had had 
a little schooling at other mission stations, others had come from 


NORTHEAST RHODESIA 111 


a district where there are only Roman Catholic missions, and 
no schools. But all were anxious to attend school. 

These were the forerunners of many who would have fol- 
lowed, but we could not take them in, and had to send them 
back. Some of them had brought their wives, and had been 
waiting weeks for my return. It pained us to turn them away, 
but we are obliged> by circumstances to go slowly just now, 
because of the shortage of funds. Next year we hope to open 
our boarding school, and then these people can return with their 
friends. 


THE FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL 


Last Sabbath we organized our Sabbath school with 101 
present. It was a blessed day. It seemed more like Sabbath. 
Previously we had been unable to have Sabbath school for 
various reasons, one of the chief being an insufficient knowledge 
of the language on the part of those who would be called upon 
to take the classes. But last Sabbath we were able to form and 
conduct six classes. It was surprising how the people took to 
the Sabbath school idea. 

Unlearned and unused to attending any religious service, they 
talked loudly and laughed at the least provocation,— on rising 
from prayer or sitting after a song, changing for classes and 
returning. “They struggled with each other to secure or retain 
a place, and were unable to remember and repeat more than 
five or six words of their memory verse. ‘Thus they attended 
their first Sabbath school. But our faith is strengthened by this 
meager beginning, and we believe that in a short time we shall 
see many of these same people develop into earnest, sober 
Christians. 


PILFY YING ‘[ejeN ‘purynynZ YnyY njnzZ ve Aq pojeag ‘soyyny oy JZ 


6ILL 





HERE AND THERE 


GOD SUPPLIES THE NEEDED STRENGTH 


A NATIVE teacher at one of our Central African mission 
stations felt impressed that at vacation time he should go out 
on a canvassing and evangelistic tour. It was his chief topic 
of conversation for weeks. Some felt that the time had not yet 
come, and tried to turn him from it, but this made him the 
more determined to demonstrate that the field was ripe for 
just such work. 

At the time, this teacher was suffering greatly with one of 
his legs, and had to be wheeled to and from school in a wheel- 
barrow. When he tried to put any weight on his leg, it gave 
him great pain. It was pointed out to him that a man in his 
condition could not expect to go out into the district. But his 
faith was strong in God, and he knew he would be helped. 
As vacation drew near, his leg became worse instead of better, 
and we all expected to see him go to bed, instead of trying to 
canvass. 

Vacation time arrived, and passes were issued to all who 
wanted to go to their homes. Along with the rest of the boys 
came this teacher, leaning heavily on the arm of one of the 
strong young men for support, his face plainly showing that 
every step gave him great pain. He asked for his pass and a 
supply of books, but was told that it would be unthinkable for 
him to go any distance. Still he was determined to go, and 
finally was given the books. Off he started, and it was expected 
that he would soon be back, glad to lie down. Nothing was 
heard from him for several days, and all wondered what had 
become of him. 

‘Two weeks later, the Friday evening prayer and social meet- 
ing had just started, when in walked our canvasser. In the 
testimony meeting he was one of the first to speak, and related 
some wonderful experiences. He told how in great agony he 
had left with his books. But he had told the Lord how much 
the people needed what was in the books, and that he had faith 


8 113 


114 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


in His power to heal. After going a few hundred yards, the 
pain in his leg had entirely disappeared. He was able to sell 
all his books, and had had some excellent meetings with the 
people. He had been greatly blessed in many ways. At one 
place the headman of the village called him to the cattle kraal, 
and showed him two very fine cows, telling him he could have 
them as a token of his (the headman’s) appreciation of the 
blessings he had brought to him. 

When the work was to be started in the Congo, this teacher 
gave two heifers to help begin the work. ‘They were sold for 
£16, and the money was sent on to assist in opening the work. 
Many a time he has been known to sit up all night to teach 
the truth to a passer-by, knowing it might be the man’s last 
chance to hear the gospel. All who go to his home are given 
some seeds of truth to take away with them. 


PROTECTION FROM THE STORM 
At the time that Brethren J. R. Campbell and Charles 


Sparrow were colaborers at the Zulu Mission, an incident 
occurred which they felt was evidence that the Lord cares for 
and takes a special interest in His children. One afternoon 
while Brother F. R. Stockil was visiting them, Brethren Camp- 
bell and Sparrow walked out with him to a mealie field about a 
mile from the mission house, where a number of natives were 
busy hoeing. Suddenly a dark cloud gathered over Spion 
Kop Mountain, making it appear true to its native name, 
‘Tabamnyama, meaning “the dark or black mountain.” <A 
severe storm soon followed, with thunder and lightning in quick 
succession. 

A grand but awesome sight was the storm of hail and rain, 
driven by a strong wind over the river flats, and cutting off 
retreat to the mission buildings. ‘The natives fled to what 
meager shelter the river bank and land washouts afforded. 

The three white brethren, while debating what to do, noticed 
a large mealie tank driven at high speed by the wind, which 
soon landed in a depression in the mealie field not many yards 
from where they were standing. They ran to the tank and 


HERE AND THERE 115 


quickly climbed in through the manhole on the side; and al- 
though the old tank rocked in the fierce wind, and the din of 
the beating hail was so great as completely to drown their 
voices, a safe refuge was afforded for more than half an hour 
while the storm raged. After the storm the three emerged 
dry and safe. ‘The tank had been blown from the yard of an 
Indian tenant on the mountain side two miles away. 


A RED KAFIR’S CONVERSION 


Several meetings were held at a heathen kraal, and the whole 
family seemed interested. “The wife decided to become a Chris- 
tian, but for a long time the husband held back, his heathen 
customs having such a grip on him that it seemed impossible 
for him to break loose. 

One day, after listening to a study on the “ Ten Virgins,” 
this man decided to yield his all to Jesus. He rolled his beer 
barrels down to the river, smashed them, and threw them where 
he would never see them again. He also smashed his pipes, 
and threw them away. ‘Then he came and announced his 
decision to obey the truth. ‘This was true conversion. 


idee Vv OIGETOFs PRAYER 


An old native sister stood up in the social service and said: 

“ Before the missionaries came, I was an ignorant heathen, 
with no ambition in life. Now my people are Christians, and 
in my home is heard the voice of prayer. My greatest ambition 
is to know the truth, so that I can teach it to others.” 

She often holds prayer meetings with her neighbors. Thou- 
sands of testimonies like this are heard by the African mission- 
aries constantly. Yet some people ask, “ Do missions pay?” 


THE POWER OF SONG 


Roman, one of the outschool teachers, came to the Malamulo 
station to visit and report on his work. While there, he lis- 
tened to the students learning the hymn, ‘“ Do you know why 
I love Jesus?” and he learned the chorus. When he returned 
to his school, he taught it to his students. They sang it every- 
where, at school, at home, in the villages, at work, and at play. 


116 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Five of Roman’s old students, who had previously been 
members of the Bible class, but who had dropped out in order 
to follow their heathen ways, were so touched by the hymn 
that they decided to return to school. Roman wrote us of his 
joy, and asked us to send him a copy of the verses, saying, 
“Tf the chorus only has had such an influence over the boys, 
what will be the result when we can sing all the hymn?” 
We gladly sent him a copy. 

A few weeks later, at the native camp-meeting, he reported 
that seventeen boys and girls had been converted by the singing 
of that hymn. Such is the power of song, even among Africa’s 
dark-skinned listeners. 


FOUND: A “SENTINEL AN .HIS*HUT 


Far out and away from civilization, in a remote section of 
Rhodesia, John Ngono, a Fingu, was farming in the Selukwe 
Reserve. ‘This man was a minister, and his large family had 
been brought up in the Christian faith. He was the recognized 
leader of his people. 

Ngono first heard of Seventh-day Adventists in 1913, when 
one of our missionaries held some meetings with several Fingu 
families in this district, but he regarded them as Jews, and 
would have nothing to do with their teaching. Since he was 
the leader of the people, it was impossible to induce any of them 
to accept the message because of his attitude, and for a time 
that particular district was practically abandoned. 

One day, as Ngono was looking through one of his huts, he 
found a copy of the African Sentinel magazine, and not know- 
ing that it was a Seventh-day Adventist paper, he read it 
eagerly. Such a deep impression was made upon his mind that 
he re-read it several times, and then began telling his friends 
about the wonderful things he had learned. Where this paper 
came from no one knows, nor does any one know how a second 
copy was later brought to his home, but nevertheless it came. 
Perhaps some native had received a copy of the magazine, and 
on passing that way to ask Ngono what he thought of its 
teaching, found him gone, and simply threw the paper into 


HERE AND THERE jy 


the hut and went away. Anyway, the papers came, and this 
second copy was read with as great eagerness as the first. 

In 1920, Isaac Xiba, our leading evangelist in the Selukwe 
Reserve, was impressed to attempt some work for the Fingu 
people, and was joined by the other teachers in praying that 
the Lord would direct them to some leader among this people 
who would respond to the message and help in carrying it to 
others. ‘Their effort was begun by distributing literature from 





Ngono and His Family, of South Rhodesia 


hut to hut, and this soon brought them directly in touch with 
a man named Samuel Kona. 

This man at first manifested considerable opposition to the 
message, but Isaac succeeded in giving him a Bible study on the 
Sabbath question, and this was so convincing that he decided 
to obey. Upon parting from Kona, Isaac was asked to take a 
letter to Ngono, who was a friend of his, and Isaac took ad- 
vantage of this opportunity to leave several tracts for Ngono 
to read. 


118 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


In reading these tracts, Ngono readily perceived that the 
teaching was the same as that he had read in the two copies of 
the Sentinel, and he now became convinced that he must keep 
the Sabbath. He wished, however, to learn the attitude of his 
family toward the matter. ‘To ascertain this, he told them he 
would whip Isaac if he came to their home again trying to 
teach this peculiar doctrine. Fearing that he would carry out 
his threat, his wife and children admitted to him frankly that 
they had decided to obey the new teaching, and begged him 
to reconsider his attitude toward it. He then told them of 
his own struggle, and that he, too, felt convicted that he must 
obey God’s commands. 

It was the privilege of the writer to witness the baptism of 
this entire family of six in a beautiful stream near their home. 
Ngono is now the pastor of a Fingu Seventh-day Adventist 
church in his neighborhood, and greatly rejoices in the truth 
he has found. 

Samuel Kona also accepted the message, and has become an 
evangelist. Thus the silent messenger placed in an African 
hut wrought the salvation of many people. 


MARY’S LOYALTY TO THE MESSAGE 


One of the first to accept the truth in the Transkei (Kafir- 
land) was Mary. How the message found her and her family 
is told by Brother W. C. Tarr, as follows: 

One cold Sunday morning I felt impressed to visit a house 
on the top of quite a steep hill, about two miles distant from 
Butterworth. I found a man, who proved to be Mary’s hus- 
band, in a sheltered place at the back of an aloe fence, asleep, 
with his face on his open Bible for a pillow. After waking 
him, I told him how pleased I was to find a man who had been 
studying his Bible, even though he had fallen asleep while 
doing so. 

After I had explained my mission, he invited me into his 
house, where I found Mary. I then gave them a Bible study 
on the second coming of Christ. By their rapt attention I could 
see they were interested. I was asked to come again, which I 


HERE AND THERE 119 


did quite often, and to my joy it was not long before Mary 
decided to throw in her lot with our people. But Solomon, 
the husband, did not embrace the truth until about two years 
later. 

Mary did not remain satisfied with having received a knowl- 
edge of this truth herself, but immediately set to work to bring 
to others the light she had received. Wherever she found inter- 
ested ones, she would ask us to call upon them and give them 
the truth. She soon had her father, Dambuza, interested, and 
very soon we could boast of having the oldest Sabbath keeper 
in South Africa. We found him to be close to one hundred 
years of age, but hale and hearty, and still able to read and 
do a fair amount of work. 

Mary next took us over to see her sister, Anna Qora, and 
though holding a position as leader in the woman’s band of 
another church in that section, she decided to give up this office 
and join the ranks of the Adventist people. 

Since that time many of Mary’s relatives and friends have 
come into the truth, and I believe that when Jesus comes she 
will have many stars in her crown. 

Shortly after Anna accepted the truth, the European min- 
ister representing another denomination in that part, called upon 
her to try to persuade her to renounce the Seventh-day Ad- 
ventist faith. He reminded her that she was the recognized 
leader of the woman’s band, and that they were all disappointed 
that she had failed them. He urged her to return, but her 
mind was made up. When he found that flattery availed noth- 
ing, he next tried threatening and abuse, even going so far as 
to debar her children from attending the public school. He 
finally told her that her mother and sister and many of her 
relatives who had died and gone to heaven, would now, because 
of God’s displeasure at what she had done, be consigned to hell. 
But Anna did not believe in this diabolical doctrine, and it 
only caused her to become more firmly established in the truth. 

The good work went. forward in the Transkei, and very 
soon Bethel Mission was organized and a strong church estab- 
lished. Today we have a school there of about one hundred 
students. 











Dr. A. H. Kretchmar (left) and W. H. Anderson (right) Visit the 
Queen and Her Daughter, Kanye, Bechuanaland 


This woman has authority over 40,000 souls. 








The Queen’s Mansion, Kanye 


MEDICAL WORK OPENS THE WAY 


Tue following interesting narrative concerning the opening 
of the Bechuanaland Protectorate to us through the work of 
a missionary physician, comes in a letter from Elder W. H. 
Anderson, showing what can be done in new and difficult fields: 


The Protectorate has been a closed country to us ever since 
we began work in this field three years ago. As it is native 
territory, the native chiefs are in control, and all of them had 
made agreements with the missionaries working among them 
that they would not allow any other mission society to come in. 
That apparently made it impossible for us to enter. I visited 
all the native chiefs, and they told me that it was impossible 
to get an entrance. The way looked dark, but I knew that 
the time had come for the closed doors to swing open, and I 
thought and prayed over the matter, that we might find a 
way to open them. 


Then I thought of trying the medical work as an entering 
wedge. One year ago, Dr. A. H. Kretchmar, of the Loma 
Linda College of Medical Evangelists, arrived to make the 
attempt. “The government was very anxious to have a doctor 
at Kanye, about seventy-five miles northwest of Mafeking. 
Here was the chief town of the Bangwaketse people. I urged 
the doctor to accept the appointment, and went to Kanye with 
him to see the chief and the people. It was agreed that the 
doctor might come among them and practise medicine, but they 
required him to sign an agreement that he would not mention 
his religion. 

Now Dr. Kretchmar had come to Africa to be a missionary, 
and for them to ask him to sign an agreement to do no mission- 
ary work was almost too much for him. However, I urged him 
to go ahead and sign the agreement, and much against his own 


judgment and entirely against his desires, he poe consented 
to give it a trial. 


121 


22 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


BURSTING THE FETTERS 


The doctor began his work among the people, and took a 
real Christian interest in them. It was not long until they 
noticed that he did not work on Saturday. “They asked him 
why, but he told them they had made him agree to keep still 
about his religion, so he could not tell them. 

Then they went to their missionary of another society and 
asked him about it. He told them that the doctor was a fine 
man, that he was a capable fellow, and that his medicine was 
good, but they must keep away from his religion, for it was a 
strange religion. “That only aroused their curiosity, and they 
went to the doctor and demanded that he tell them why he did 
not work on Saturday. He finally told them, and at once the 
news was carried to the queen, who is the real ruler during the 
minority of the chief. 

The next day they called the doctor to the queen’s place. 
The favorite daughter of the queen was sitting on the floor 
with her Bible in her lap, trying to find if there was any author- 
ity there for keeping Saturday. She was as far as the second 
chapter of Genesis, and there she stuck and called for help. 
The doctor explained in a few words, and then left them as 
soon as possible. He had dropped a seed of this truth, and it 
started to grow. 

In January, 1923, the doctor went to Cape Town to attend 
the meeting of the union conference committee, and was away 
from Kanye six weeks. The people were afraid he would never 
come back. After his return he told them that unless his church 
was allowed to enter Kanye, he would leave. That started an 
uproar. ‘They wanted to know why. 

The doctor explained the situation to them, and told them 
his purpose in coming to Africa, and now his purpose was 
about to be defeated, so he was going where he could be a real 
medical missionary. 

They wanted the doctor at any cost, so they asked him what 
they would have to do to keep him there. He told them they 
would have to admit his church and allow him to be a real 
medical missionary. 


MEDICAL WORK OPENS THE WAY 123 


AN URGENT INVITATION 


They talked it over, and then wrote me a letter and asked 
me to call and see them at once. I did so, and they called in 
seventeen of the headmen of the tribe, and put the matter before 
them. They considered it for half a day in our presence, and 
when the vote was cast, fifteen were for our going in, and two 
against it. 

After that they wrote an official letter to the government, 
asking permission for us to begin work among them. ‘They 
also advised me to start work at once, for there would be op- 





Hospital and Dispensary of Dr. A. H. Kretchmar, Kanye, 
Bechuanaland 


position, and they wanted me to get started before the opposi- 
tion had time to organize its forces against us. 

In less than a week I was there ready to start meetings. “They 
gave me a church building 30x 60 feet for the meetings, and 
for five weeks it was packed every night. At the close of the 
five weeks we had organized a Sabbath school of forty-three. 
Dr. Kretchmar is the superintendent, and his wife has charge 
of the children’s department. 

Ninety or more have handed in their names for church 
membership, and have been formed into a baptismal class. 
Among these is the favorite daughter of the queen. The queen 


124 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


said she was too old to do anything for the truth in an aggres- 
sive way, but encouraged her daughter to do so. 


AN EFFORT TO CREATE PREJUDICE 


Last Sunday the head deacon of another mission church called 
on the queen’s daughter, and for more than an hour pleaded with 
her not to leave the church of her childhood and the church 
of her father to follow the Jewish religion. She asked him to 





Our Church Building in Kanye, a Gift of the Queen 


find’ in her Bible where the Sabbath was called the Jewish 
Sabbath, and also where the law was for the Jews. He did 
not try to find it, but pleaded with her to follow her father 
and her church. 

Then she told him she had been deceived, but now she saw 
the truth. He urged that if she left the church, being a Bible 
teacher in the church and an influential woman, she might 
lead many with her. She told him she was “ finished”? with 
him, and that she would use all her influence to draw as many 
with her as she could. Now in her Bible classes she is teaching 
this message to every one she can. 


MEDICAL WORK OPENS THE WAY 125 


Dr. Kretchmar is busy all the time doing Bible work among 
the people. He is very enthusiastic, and when the church is 
organized, he can point to most of the members as being souls 
he has personally brought into the truth. 

About twenty miles from Kanye is another large native town 
of about 8,000 people. The doctor is going over there today 
to ask the chief to allow us to start work among his people. 
The doctor has been their physician for the last nine months, 
and now is sure that he can be their spiritual adviser as well. 
He will do all he can to swing open the door there for this 
message. 


THE QUEEN’S “OWN SON” 


We are very glad for the good work the doctor has done 
here, and for the influence of his godly life among the natives. 
They all love him, and the queen calls him her own son. I 
wish we had a dozen men like Dr. Kretchmar out here doing 
real medical missionary work, using their medical training as 
a helping hand to win the confidence of the natives, that they 
might be used of God to save souls. 

How glad we are to see the work advance! How it rejoices 
our hearts to see the message enter new fields! But the great- 
est pleasure that can ever come to the missionary is when he 
sees souls accept this message and with him prepare to give it 
to others. ‘This is our joy in Kanye today, and as we enter 
into the labors of Dr. Kretchmar there, we share his joy with 
him. 





Married Women, Ondonga, German Southwest Africa 
126 


THE LAND OF THE ONDONGAS 


Durinc the year 1922, Elder W. H. Anderson, one of our 
pioneer missionaries to Africa, spent six months traversing the 
countries of Southwest Africa (formerly German) and Angola, 
or Portuguese West Africa, searching for suitable locations for 
mission centers in these countries, for plans had been laid to 
open these fields during 1923. He traveled hundreds of miles 
by donkey wagon, oxcart, boat, and on foot, and found many 
interesting tribes who gave him a hearty welcome, and urged 
him to send teachers to them. 

In reporting from the northern section of Southwest Africa, 
Elder Anderson wrote an interesting description of the Ondonga 
tribe, located in that country. “These strange people have, until 
now, been unknown to us. During this year (1923) a mission- 
ary has gone forward to Southwest Africa, and is now engaged 
in language study preparatory to opening up work among these 
people and their neighboring tribes. 


A POWERFUL OVAMBO TRIBE 


One enters the country of the Ondongas about one hundred 
miles after leaving Tsumeb, Southwest Africa. They are the 
chief of the Ovambo tribes, and the most powerful of them all. 

The country is separated from the south by more than fifty 
miles of desert, in which there is no water except in the rainy 
season; and after one reaches the wells where there is water, 
for the first thirty miles on the north side of the desert the 
water is salty, and it is almost impossible to drink it after the 
month of May in a dry season like this, or after the month of 
July in a wet season such as they had here last year. 

The country is very flat, and there are no kopjes (hills) in 
any part of it. Most of the soil is very sandy, suited for the 
growing of nyoutis, sweet potatoes, and beans, but hardly strong 
enough to produce good mealies (corn). Still they do grow 
mealies here, and also some Kafir corn. 


127 


128 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


The southern part of the country is almost denuded of trees, 
but there are some grand old fig trees that have been left stand- 
ing, and also many palm trees, such as we find growing on the 
Kafui flats in Northern Rhodesia. 

The whole country seems to be very level. I have not seen 
the course of a single river as far as I have traveled through it. 
On the other hand, there are numerous pans and salt basins, 
which are filled with water in the wet season, and there are also 
large numbers of geese, ducks, egrets, crested cranes, storks, 
mud hens, and many other waterfowl; but at this season of 
the year all these pans have dried up, and the birds are gone. 
In fact, much of the country that I have passed through reminds 
me of the Bwengwa district on the Kafui flats in Northern 
Rhodesia. 

Of course these numerous pans make fertile breeding places 
for the mosquitoes in the wet season, but at this time of the 
year I have not seen or heard a mosquito during the two weeks 
I have been here. 


THE NATIVES 


In size the natives are much like the Mashukulumbwe. ‘The 
latter are fine, stalwart men and women, although not so large. 
The Ondonga men are well developed, and seem to be very 
strong. Many of them are exceptionally tall. I have seen 
several that would stand six feet six, and some of them are 
large in proportion to their height. 

‘The clothing of the men is much the same as that of the 
Barotses. “They wear the cloth passed over a belt, through 
between the legs, and then over the belt at the back, and spread 
out again behind. 

The girls dress in much the same fashion. “They wear a 
bit of cloth in the same way, but in addition to this they wear 
around their hips several strings of ostrich egg-shell beads. The 
shell of the ostrich egg is broken into small bits, smaller than a 
10-cent piece, then a hole is bored through the center, and the 
shell is strung on a string. When the string is about five feet 
long, they tie it around the waist. 


THE LAND OF THE ONDONGAS 129 


The cloth the married women wear is a little longer than 
that of the girls, and their hair hangs to the ground. While 
working, they tuck the hair into the belt at the back, so it will 
not be in the way. It is weighted at the end so it will stay in 
place, and not be blown about by the wind. 

The girls are promised in marriage when they are small, 
and the husband-to-be pays the marriage dowry. When they 
are old enough to be married, they go to a school, which is 
held every other year, where they are prepared for the marriage 
ceremony. 

When the preparation is concluded, the girls come out and 
dance, and the men catch every one his wife as the Benjamites 
did with the daughters of Shiloh. I have never heard of a 
case where any man caught any other than the girl to whom he 
was betrothed, and for whom he had paid the marriage dowry 
when she was a child. 

The Ondongas are a wealthy people, owning hundreds of 
horses and thousands of cattle, sheep, and goats. It is esti- 
mated that the whole tribe numbers about 25,000, but that is 
only an estimate,— no census has ever been taken. It is also 
estimated that they have 200,000 cattle, sheep, and goats. The 
country seems to be overstocked, as the feed is very scarce. 
The cattle are small, however, like those owned by the Batongas. 
Still they are very hardy, and lately the natives have been buying 
a much better grade from the farmers in the south. The chief 
has many fine, thorough-bred bulls, which in time will greatly 
improve the herds. Incidentally, he also owns a Ford auto- 
mobile. ‘The chief is a powerful man, standing about six feet 
high, and being well proportioned. He seems to be intelligent 
and progressive. 

The Ovambos have a custom that no heir to the throne 
may leave the country, neither may a chief leave his people. 
This prevents them from obtaining the education they might 
have if they were permitted to travel and see something of 
the world. Just now the chief has gone to Namatoni to greet 
the prince. It is the longest journey he has ever taken in 


his life. 
9 


130 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


EARLY MISSIONARIES 


The Finnish missionaries came to this country fifty-two years 
ago, and one of the pioneers is still living here. ‘This speaks 
well for the healthfulness of the country, as he has been home 
only twice in all that time, and never expects to leave the 
country again. “They now have twenty-two missionaries in 
this field, counting the women (they are all married), but 
not counting the children. 

They have a training school, with an enrolment of thirty- 
two boys and six girls. They require that the pupil shall pass 
the third grade before being admitted to the training school, 
and then he is given three years in the school before he can 
become a teacher or an evangelist. 

The entire Bible is available in the tongue of the people, 
being published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. “They 
also have two readers, Old and New ‘Testament stories, and 
a catechism. ‘The Finnish missionaries do not seem to have 
developed their educational work in a very strong way. In- 
dustries were formerly connected with the missions, but years 
ago they were discontinued. 

None of the missionaries speak the English language, but all 
speak the German. I am told that the chief is very anxious to 
have English taught in the schools. His interpreter is not an 
Ovambo. He told me he had spent three years in school in 
London. He speaks broken English, but seems to understand 
it much better than he can speak it. 


PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURISTS 


The tribesmen are great agriculturists, but use very primitive 
methods. ‘They farm like the Batongas, with a small hoe, 
scratching the ground only a few inches deep. If there is 
plenty of rain, they have plenty of food; but if a drouth comes, 
they starve, as they are doing this year. I hear from the goy- 
ernment officials that the chief desires the establishment of 
industrial missions. By this means we may be able to find 
access to the homes and hearts of the people. 


THE LAND OF THE ONDONGAS 131 


The kraals are very primitive, and are a real labyrinth when 
one tries to enter. I am reminded of the “ Mystic Maze”’ at 
Del Monte, California, with one entrance, and such a com- 
plicated arrangement of passages that it is very hard to find 
the exit after you have entered. In passing into the kraal last 
night to see the chief, we went through three huts before we 
came to the small inclosure in which he had the interview 
with us. Then when we started out, I had to wait for my 
guide to pilot me, for I could not have found the way out 
alone. 

The huts are small, and the entrance looks like the burrow 
of a rabbit. It is just large enough for one to crawl through. 
Inside is a small raised place where the occupants curl up and 
sleep at night with the door closed. “There is no chance for 
ventilation. Although they live out of doors all day, the habit 
of sleeping in these almost air-tight places makes them an easy 
prey to all kinds of pulmonary diseases. “Tuberculosis is very 
common among them. 

The chief has asked me to wait here until he returns from 
his visit to the prince. He has promised to have a long talk 
with me then, to see if arrangements cannot be made whereby 
we may enter the country with our missions. I feel sure that 
if we start here, we shall have the bitter opposition of the 
Finnish church; but these people must have this message, and 
we are prepared to give it to them. I pray the Lord to give 
us favor with these powerful chiefs, that their country and 
their people may be ready to hear this message. 

This chief rules one fourth of all the people of Ovamboland, 
and if we make a start here, we can extend our work into the 
other parts later. Or it may be we shall have to begin in other 
parts, where at present there are no missionaries, and later 
enter here. 








eae . a 


Horse Car Operated from Windhoek to Rehoboth, 
Southwest Africa 


W. H. Anderson, and Mr. and Mrs. Ovid Bredenkamp and child are seated 
on this novel conveyance, ready to start in search of a location for 
our first mission in Angola. 





On the Trek to Our First Mission Site, Angola, Portuguese 
West Africa 


Elders J. D. Baker and W. H. Anderson are in the foreground. 
Photograph taken by Elder T. M. French 


132 


OPENING NEW FIELDS 


On his return from Southwest Africa and Angola, late in 
1922, Elder W. H. Anderson reported that both these countries 
were open to us. Several believers were found in each of these 
lands, and urgent calls came to us from leading chiefs to estab- 
lish work among them. It was decided, therefore, to attempt 
to occupy these fields without delay. 

The South African Union Conference volunteered to release 
one of their experienced workers, Elder J. D. Baker, from 
the Emmanuel Mission, Basutoland, to go into Angola; and 
the Zambesi Union Mission agreed to release Brother Ovid 
Bredenkamp to open up work in Southwest Africa. Both of 
these unions also agreed to release several natives to accompany 
these missionaries, and act as teachers and evangelists. 

About the middle of May, 1923, Elder T. M. French, field 
secretary for the African Division, and Elder W. H. Anderson 
started out with these workers to assist them in securing defi- 
nite locations and getting settled in their new fields of labor. 
Upon his return to the office in Cape Town, Elder French 
wrote of the trip as follows: 


A TRIP TO ANGOLA 


It was a tedious journey from Upington to Windhoek, South- 
west Africa. More than a hundred miles of railway had been 
washed out and hurriedly rebuilt ; so the train crept slowly along 
by day, and stopped at night. After spending a few days at 
Windhoek, we left for Tsumeb. It was a rough journey of two 
days over the narrow-gauge railway from Usakos. “[sumeb is a 
small town in the northeast of the territory, with a very rich 
copper mining industry. 

After trekking across by ox wagon, a few days were spent 
at Grootfontein. Good grazing land is found here, but the 
uncertain financial situation has ruined the farmers. 


133 


134 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


In all parts of Southwest Africa we found the population 
very much scattered. In fact, most of the natives outside of 
Ovamboland to the north are settled near the various towns. 
The small reserves that exist at present are so temporary in 
character, owing to the fact that the government is planning 
to proclaim new reserves, that it would be unwise to think of 
locating anything of a permanent nature on them. So we sug- 
gested opening the work with evangelists and teachers in and 
near the various towns of Southwest Africa. 


AMONG THE NAMAQUAS AND HOTTENTOTS 


After we had studied the native population and the general 
situation, we advised Brother and Sister Bredenkamp to settle 
at Windhoek, and begin studying the Ovambo language. Here 
is a large native population, with Namaquas, Hottentots, and 
half-castes. It affords an excellent opportunity to make a 
beginning among the various tribes of the country. 


READY FOR A SCHOOL 


Windhoek is at the center of the country, and has a large 
native population, in fact, the largest in the Southwest. “The 
natives are very anxious to have an English school, since none 
is being conducted at present. Some months ago they offered 
to raise a substantial sum of money toward a building. We 
felt, after looking over the field, that it might be well to open 
a day school in Windhoek, conducting evening classes as well, 
thus making a beginning in this place. 

A public effort for Europeans would also be a good thing in 
Windhoek. Then, of course, a native effort could be conducted 
later. ‘There is no apparent reason why we should not very 
soon have there a good European church as well as a company 
of native believers. 

Ovamboland has a large native population. ‘This country 
is closed to us at present. However, when we were at Groot- 
fontein, word came to us from Chief Martin, the paramount 
chief of this northern section, that he was waiting for a teacher, 


OPENING NEW FIELDS 135 


We have sent word back to him that we have our teacher all 
ready to send in as soon as he makes the necessary arrange- 
ments with the government. 

We were joined by Brother Baker at Walfish Bay, traveling 
by steamer to Lobito Bay, Angola. We landed there on the 
12th of June, and spent more than a month in Angola. Lobito 
has a fine harbor, and work is proceeding on a $13,500,000 
contract for the construction of docks. ‘The town is built on 
a narrow sand spit. 

Four days were spent at Benguela, preparing for the interior 
journey. It was an interesting experience, buying provisions 
without an interpreter. Our wits were exhausted in making 
signs. English food was scarce. In fact, the tinned goods 
available were several years old, and hardly edible. In the 
hotels the principal food was spoiled fish and garlic, and we 
were glad when we were ready to be off to camp life in the 
interior. 

An effort was made to reserve berths on the only passenger 
coach of the train going inland. However, we understood 
that it was not the custom to reserve berths, so we simply 
climbed into the train and sat down. After being comfortably 
seated, the conductor came along and asked us to move out, 
which we hesitated to do. However, upon learning that the 
beds belonging to the seats were sold to others, we saw there 
was nothing to do but occupy the observation section (the rear 
end of the coach). As we watched the fiery trail of the wood- 
burning engine during the long hours of the night, we were 
reminded of the march of civilization into the heart of Africa, 
preparing the way for the gospel. 

Our first destination was Ganda. Here we found a very 
fine class of natives. “The country has excellent soil and a 
good rainfall. We were pleased with this district, and pegged 
out a farm for our mission station, but later learned that the 
Swiss Missionary Society had arranged for a site there. When 
this information was received, we felt that since the country 
was so large and there was much unentered territory, we should 
look for a site elsewhere, 


136 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


TREKKING IN THE MOUNTAINS 


On our way we had met a very progressive administrator 
who spoke English. He gave us an earnest invitation to come 
into his district near Lepi, and open work. He said no mission 
work was being done in his district, and that he was very 
anxious for American missionaries to come in. After looking 
about Huambo a few days, and visiting the Congregational 
training school, we returned to Lepi to see this administrator. 
He received us cordially, and told us the district was wide 
open for us to walk through the land and select anything we 
wished. 

We went through the country, and found a beautiful site 
in the basin between a large circle of mountains, about eight 
miles from Lepi and four miles from the railroad, where a 
small town is springing up. It is approximately 6,000 feet 
above sea level. “Thousands of natives live in a very small 
area near this location. The governor will give us up to 500 
hectars of land, which would be about 1,200 acres. 

We found in this country many beautiful mountain streams, 
flowing the year round. ‘The timber is good and the land fertile. 
It is very healthful here, and quite free from malaria. ‘The 
water is very good, so our missionaries ought to have reasonably 
good health. ‘The natives are a very fine type. They have 
had no mission or school work done among them. We feel 
that this is an ideal field for opening our work. 


GOOD MOTORING IN ANGOLA 


There are good roads running out from this place to other 
centers of Angola, so one could reach almost any part of the 
interior by motor car. With a good training school established 
here, we believe that the entire Angola field might be served 
by the one institution. 

In an interview with the governor-general, he made it very 
plain that, while the government does not interfere with the 
teaching of religion, certain requirements in school work must 
be met. The government requires the Portuguese to be taught 
in the schools, and prohibits the teaching of the native languages, 


OPENING NEW FIELDS 137 


The instruction in Bible is the exception to this rule. Bible 
instruction and preaching may be done in the native tongues. 
The government will not allow any printed matter in the 
native tongue, unless it is paralleled with the Portuguese. 

The government also requires the teaching of industries, and 
inspects the schools regularly to see that its standards are met. 
The school must therefore be equipped for teaching woodwork 
and carpentry as well as agriculture to the boys, and sewing, 
dressmaking, and housekeeping to the girls. We should provide 
teachers who can handle these lines of work in an efficient way. 

The government also requires the native teachers who are 
employed in opening outschools to pass an examination in 
Portuguese. I believe this is the only restriction with refer- 
ence to outschools. We are free to do medical work among 
the natives, but there are some restrictions upon practising 
among the Portuguese residents. 


HOPING TO “PEG OUT” A MISSION SITE 


The governor-general gave us a very cordial invitation to 
his country, and we assured him that we would endeavor to 
meet the requirements of the government. In harmony with 
his advice, we made formal application to open mission work 
in the country, and Brother Baker is awaiting the formal reply 
to the application. As soon as this is received, he will “ peg 
out” his site, and make a request for a grant of land. 

Angola is a very promising mission field. ‘There are fully 
ten million natives in this colony, and very little has been done 
for them thus far by any society. “They are in their primitive 
state, almost untouched by European civilization, and afford 
an excellent field for us, with a fairly healthful climate on the 
plateau. We feel that our work in Angola has a real future. 


8éL 


€z61 ‘sunjoayy-duey eynqeuos ‘stoduiey dAteN 





CAMP-MEETINGS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 


Tuar the native peoples of Africa, accustomed as they are 
to a care-free, out-of-door life, should find joy and benefit in 
attending camp-meetings, may seem strange to those who live 
in civilized lands. But the annual camp-meeting for the 
African has become a regular part of mission life in the interior, 
and none enjoy themselves more on these occasions than these 
dark-skinned people. In some places the meetings are attended 
by great throngs, who come from all directions on foot, whole 
families and sometimes almost whole villages tramping over 
the fields and through the forests for many miles to the place 
of assembly. Here they make themselves comfortable under 
booths or in improvised pole-and-grass huts. 

A local camp-meeting of 3,600 would be considered a won- 
derful gathering, even in countries like America or Europe, 
where the message has been preached for many, many years, and 
where Christian civilizations have prepared the way for our 
work; but to witness a gathering of this kind in one small local 
field in East Central Africa, where heathenism has reigned 
supreme for millenniums, is nothing short of a miracle of 
God’s grace. 

At such a meeting in Nyasaland, East Africa, in 1924, it 
was estimated that considerably more than three thousand of 
those in attendance were our own believers, while the others 
were still in heathenism, but were attracted to the meeting by 
the influence of their believing friends. 

The meeting was held in three sections, in order that more 
faithful work might be done for those who attended. One 
section met at the Malamulo Training School, another at a 
new outstation some eighteen miles away, and the third section 
at the Matandani outstation. 

Until 1923 these annual camp-meetings were held in one 
section at the main station, but the attendance became so large 


139 


140 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


‘that it was decided to divide, and in that year a second meeting 
was held at Matandani. Still the meeting at the main station 
was too large, so in 1924, in order to relieve the congestion, 
a third meeting was arranged. To our utter astonishment, 
however, we found that with these three divisions, the meeting 
at the main station was as large as before the division was made. 


NOT AFTER THE ‘LOAVES AND FISHES ” 


When these annual meetings were first started, in 1918, 
those attending were supplied with food by the mission. It 
was thought so many of them had to come from such long dis- 
tances that it would be a hardship to ask them to carry sufficient 
food for the journey and also for the meeting. However, when 
at the second meeting, in 1919, more than a thousand people 
attended, it was feared that many had come simply for the 
“loaves and fishes’? (corn and sweet potatoes), and it was 
decided to discontinue the plan of providing food. Since that 
year none has been given. 


Some feared that this would break up the camp-meetings, 
and that thus we would lose far more in results than would 
be saved in food. However, it was soon demonstrated that 
these people were seeking, not the temporal, but the spiritual 
food they received at these gatherings, and for only one year 
was there a slight decrease in the attendance as a result of the 
changed policy. 

That our readers may get a concrete idea of the growth of 
the work in this field, we give a list of the number attending 
these annual gatherings from the beginning, in 1918: 


ATTENDANCE 
LOT Bio 25ers oe OL eee eee 731 Food furnished 
DOO ee ns ee oe ie M048an 4 “ 
ADDO to 5 BD nh eg Bee 757 Food not furnished 
LOD eee... eee SIE eee Ln ieee dO DEEN Ui i oe 
ahs ppp Paste Pee ys AO Ah AE aN Yes od 7 64a ee fs as 
1993 vb oo ae 5h oT Ome se «€ 


DOG enc astapeg sham cageanenyyer=-eepan ey oes 3,008." leat x 


CAMP-MEETINGS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 141 


SOMABULA AND SOLUSI 


Writing of the Somabula and Solusi camp-meetings, after 
his visit in 1922, Elder G. B. ‘Thompson said: 

When thinking of camp-meetings, we usually have in mind 
carloads of equipment, such as family tents, large pavilions, 
departmental tents, tables, chairs, large freight bills, and days 
of pitching tents and removing them. But the native camp- 
meetings in this far-away land are altogether different. 

I have just attended one of these meetings, held at Solusi, 
following a good institute in Bulawayo. About six hundred 
native believers were present at this meeting. No tents were 
pitched. ‘Those who came from a distance slept in huts or in 
native kraals, wrapped in blankets. ‘They prepared their food 
in the simplest manner possible. 

As the church was too small to accommodate all who came, 
most of the meetings were held in the open air, the speaker 
standing on the porch of the home of Brother and Sister F. B. 
Jewell, and the audience sitting on the ground or on stones. 

In addition to the regular devotional and preaching services, 
meetings were held daily with the native teachers and evangel- 
ists. “They seemed to appreciate these very much. More than 
six hundred candidates are in the present baptismal class con- 
nected with this mission. A large part of these, no doubt, 
will in time be baptized. 


MANY CAMP FIRES 


As we were driving in the night to the Somabula Mission, 
about twenty-two miles from the railroad, we saw in the 
distance many camp fires burning in the woods. When we 
reached the place, we found that these were camp fires of our 
own people, more than two hundred of whom were encamped 
there on their way to attend the meeting. I was greatly im- 
pressed with the sight. “These people are just coming out of 
heathen darkness, but there was no hilarity or unseemly conduct. 
Instead, they were gathered around their camp fires under the 
supervision of natives teachers, singing songs of praise to the 
God whom they have learned to know and believe in for sal- 
vation from sin. 


142 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


The next morning I stood on the mission grounds and saw 
these people come in in groups from various directions, some in 
carts, but most of them on foot, singing the songs of Zion. 
During the day about eight hundred arrived,—a very large 
camp-meeting, indeed. Booths were made from the branches 
of trees, and here, in primitive style, the natives ate and slept 
in as much comfort as in their kraals at home. 

As I saw all these hundreds encamped, I felt that our gifts 
to missions had not been in vain, that our faithful laborers 
who had pioneered the way, suffering the isolation, privations, 
hardships, and dangers of mission work in this land, had built 
well, and that a much greater ingathering of souls than we have 
yet witnessed will be seen in the future. 

There is a neat church building at the station, but as this 
was much too small, the seats were moved out under a large 
tree, and here, sitting upon seats and on the ground, the people 
gathered daily to worship and be instructed from the Word. 
God richly blessed in all the meetings. Daily instruction was 
given to the native evangelists and teachers, which we believe 
will enable them to do more faithful and efficient work in the 
future. A corps of native workers is being developed here, who 
we believe will be a strong band of soul-winners. 

‘The examination of candidates for baptism and church mem- 
bership is a very important and painstaking work. None are 
baptized who have not been in the baptismal class for one or 
two years. ‘Thus they are thoroughly instructed in the doc- 
trines of the message. “They are given a most searching ex- 
amination, that it may be known whether or not they are really 
converted, and living Christian lives. “Those who do not give 
this evidence are not baptized until further labor is bestowed 
upon them. 


NATIVES GIVE TO CONVERT THE HEATHEN 
At these camp-meetings we take pledges for foreign missions. 
The converted native talks just as much about foreign missions 
and converting the heathen as do our people in America or 
Europe. And they know a great deal more about what it means 
for a heathen to be converted than we do, for they themselves 


CAMP-MEETINGS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 143 


have come out of heathenism. “They can look down into the 
pit from which they have been lifted, and see perhaps a father, 
a mother, or some other relative or friend, who is still in dark- 
ness. Oh, how they long to bring to them the light! It stirs 
one’s heart to be in a testimony service and hear these people 
talk about the burden on their souls to reach those in heathen 
darkness, and to hear them tell how glad they are that the 
gospel of Jesus Christ has entered into their lives. 

When we give mission talks, we tell them about the heathen 
in some other part of the country, and ask them to give special 
offerings. They have their regular mission goal that they 
keep up every week; but they give in a special way at camp- 
meeting. At the Solusi camp-meeting in 1922 we took up an 
offering, and -when it was over, I asked the brethren to give 
me a list of the things brought in by the 500 natives present 
(the offerings given by the Europeans are not counted in this 
list) : 

There were twelve head of cattle, four sheep, one chicken, 
and £27 cash. ‘They gave what they had. Some had cattle 
and nothing else; so a man would rise and say, “I will give 
an ox;” and another would say, “I will give a heifer;”’ and 
another, ‘‘ I will give a sheep.” Thus they made their offerings. 
They arranged with the mission superintendent to sell these 
animals, and turn the money into the treasury. 

I asked the brethren to estimate very conservatively how 
much the offering that morning was worth, and they reckoned 
that the cattle would bring at least $180, that the sheep would 
bring $10, that the chicken was worth 25 cents, and that the 
£27 would figure about $135, making a total offering of 
$325.25, given by 500 natives. 

When you take into account that most of these natives 
work for from $2.50 to $3 a month and furnish all the clothing 
and food for their families, you will understand, I think, that 
that was a very liberal gift on their part. 


OFFERINGS FOR OTHERS 


At one of our camp-meetings was a man who had been a 
minister in another church for about twenty-seven years, a 


144 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


native of great influence and considerable wealth. He had 
just accepted our message, and he, with his wife and six or 
seven children, was baptized on one of our trips through the 
Somabula Mission territory. When we were taking up the 
offering, this man arose and said, “I am so thankful to God 
for bringing me this truth that I want to make an offering. 
I will give a large ox.” 

The meeting continued. After a while he began to get 
fidgety ; things weren’t going as well as he thought they ought 
to. He arose again and said, “I have been thinking it over. 


I want to give another ox for my wife.” Soon afterward he 
stood up again and said, “I am not satisfied yet. I have 
several children. I will give another ox for them.” Then 


along toward the last he looked around, and noticing there 
were some who had not given anything, he said, “ It would 
seem very strange to think that there is any one here who 
cannot give anything, but it is possible; so I will give a pound 
for them.” ‘That man made a real sacrifice, when one considers 
how meager is a native man’s ability to give compared with 
those in other countries. 


REMOVING ORNAMENTS 


These are an earnest people. One morning at the Somabula 
camp-meeting, Clarence, one of our evangelists, had been asked 
to take the devotional service. We had divided the services 
among our native evangelists, so we were free, and some of us 
decided we would go over and listen while he preached. One 
of the natives sat in the corner with us, and in an undertone 
interpreted for us. 

We found that this man, of his own accord, had decided to 
preach on the wearing of jewelry and other ornaments. He 
thought that many of the people there were not doing as they 
should. Many of them were not church members; but they 
were in the baptismal class, and he wanted them to get ready 
for baptism. He preached a very strong sermon on the wearing 
of adornments, and on pride and idolatry, for many of the 
adornments they wear are nothing short of idols. 


CAMP-MEETINGS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 145 


That was an interesting service. By the time he was half 
through, things were happening all over the church. Women 
were tugging at their ankles, trying to pry the anklets loose 
and get them off. Others were pulling bracelets off their arms; 
and others were taking rings out of their ears. There was 
action there. “They were not waiting and saying, “ Yes, I 
believe that is all right, and I may do it.” “They were doing it! 
And when the meeting was over, they brought their trinkets 
and ornaments to me. 

Some of the natives have their legs covered from the ankle 
to the knee with copper wire and brass trinkets, and their 
necks and arms loaded with beads. It is just as much a sacrifice 
for them to give up these things as it ever is for a woman in 
America or Europe to give up her diamond rings. 


PAYING HIS TITHE 


One man, who has accepted the gospel with his whole 
heart, when he arrived home from the camp-meeting at Solusi, 
went into his kraal and took out as his tithe, three cows, three 
goats, and several bags of grain. ‘This is a marvelous thing 
for a native to do, as most of them do not want to tithe any- 
thing they had before accepting the truth. He says when he 
worshiped the spirits, he always gave the best he had; and now 
that he has learned to know the true God, why should he not 
give the Lord that which rightfully belongs to Him? ‘This 
man’s whole household has accepted the gospel. 


ONE DAY’S SABBATH SCHOOL OFFERING 


When I was visiting one of the mission stations, I was 
anxious to see the taking up of their Sabbath school offering, 
for I wanted to know whether the natives had really caught 
the vision of a great world-wide movement and the spirit of 
sacrifice. 

It is their custom to put a table near the doorway. As they 
go out, the deacons stand there and see that everybody passes 
out between them and the table, and puts something into the 
collection plate, if he has anything to put in. I stood near 


10 


146 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


the table. After the meeting was over, we counted £3 ls. 1d. 
(a little more than $15), received at that station wholly from 
the natives themselves. “These people give to missions, and 
give liberally, for they believe in missions with all their hearts. 


A RAPIDLY GROWING WORK 


At one of the Sabbath meetings at the Nyasaland camp-meet- 
ing in 1924, when a call was made for non-Christians to accept 
Christ and the gospel, more than two hundred heathen came 
forward and gave themselves to God, renouncing their heathen 
customs in the presence of eighteen hundred people. 

There were 295 persons baptized at the camp-meetings in 
the Nyasa field in 1924, bringing the baptized membership of 
the field up to 1,240, with an additional probationary member- 
ship of fifteen hundred or two thousand. 

What a marvelous change the gospel has wrought! These 
people a few years ago were strictly heathen, pagan in religion, 
and their children were growing up without education or am- 
bition. “Today the call to Sabbath service rings out from a 
hundred hills where our outschools are located, and each week 
some three or four thousand gather in various companies, rang- 
ing from twenty to three hundred, to hear the gospel preached 
by our teacher-evangelists. Several thousand of their children 
are in our schools, and their one ambition is to prepare to 
go aS missionaries to those who are still in the darkness of 
heathenism. 


AN INADEQUATE LABORING FORCE 


To care for this rapidly expanding work, our force of Euro- 
pean workers is altogether inadequate. “There should be at 
least six families and a nurse to carry forward the work now 
in hand in Nyasaland, whereas at present there are only three. 
Elder G. Ellingworth, the field superintendent, with the assist- 
ance of his wife, is obliged to look after the main station and 
training school, in addition to his already heavy field work. 
To man this one station properly, requires two families and 
a nurse. Calls have been sent in for additional help for this 
field to relieve this critical situation, and we trust recruits will 


CAMP-MEETINGS IN CENTRAL AFRICA 147 


be arriving in the very near future, and before any of the 
present force break under the strain. The two outstations in 
this field are in charge of Brethren W. L. Davy and G. Pearson. 

As we saw the intense earnestness of the throngs of people 
attending these meetings, as we listened to their testimonies, 
as we heard them pray, as we watched their quiet, reverent 
deportment, while they told of their longing to see the message 
carried to their people in yet unentered sections, we could not 
help wishing that our people in the homeland could sit with 
us, if just for one day, and behold what a miracle of grace God 
has wrought here in the wilds of Central Africa, as a result 
of their sacrifice and devotion to foreign missions. 

One of these sectional meetings was held in such a veritable 
wilderness that after the sounds of the last meeting of the day 
died away, the hills would resound with the roar of the lions, 
some of them coming within a few yards of our camp, and 
entertaining us while we ate our evening meal. Yet in this 
wilderness, shut away from the world, hidden by hills on every 
side, God is preparing a people for His eternal kingdom of 
glory. What a glorious privilege to have a part in this blessed 
work of transformation, either by personal contact with the 
people or by the giving of our means that others may go! 





Natives en route to Camp-Meeting, South Rhodesia 
Some of the more well-to-do take their luggage in the donkey cart. 


SFL 


‘uosueIg "HM ‘SMPIIS “YM SOIOUTTIIM “J “SD 2 (4 8t1 0} IJ9]) o1e SuvodoInNy sy fT, “WSU sy WoT, POEs pajyeas sI JoryD oY LT 


diyjg tAtided ‘Jory JuNOWRIeg & YM doUdtOJUO) 





THE WORK OF THE OUTSCHOOLS 


THE outschool is a very important part of mission activity, 
especially in fields where the mission school is the pioneer gospel 
agency. A mission station is the center of work in a new field. 
Its director is almost invariably a white man, who, with his 
family, lives at the station. One or two other white workers 
are usually associated with him as soon as the work is well 
under way, if not from the beginning. A school is conducted 
at the main station, which usually provides facilities for board- 
ing students as well as for those living in near-by villages who 
come to the classes and return home at night. ‘This school 
becomes the training center for native teachers, evangelists, 
and other workers. 


As soon as teachers have had sufficient training, the work of 
locating and establishing outschools is begun. In Central Africa, 
permission must be obtained from the government before any 
such schools can be started. The outschool is located on a 
native reserve, on government land, or on some large farm 
privately owned. It is usually in some central place, where 
the native population is numerous. 


Besides government permission, the consent of the tribal or 
community chief is obtained, thus encouraging friendly rela- 
tions with his people. As a rule the government will not 
approve the location of a school if the chief objects. 


In the multiplication of missions and mission schools by a 
number of denominations, it not infrequently happens that some 
society has obtained from the chief exclusive rights to work 
among his people. Usually he keeps his promise, even though 
he may very much desire to admit a denomination which comes 
later. We are often solicited by a chief to start school work 
for his people because he has learned what our teaching and 
religion have done for others, 


149 


150 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Prof. W. E. Howell visited the Central and South African 
mission field in 1922, and made a study of our outschool work. 
Writing concerning it, he says: 

An outschool is taught by a native teacher, who builds a 
dwelling for himself and his family near the school, has his 
own garden, and gives his time to serving the school and the 
community. If his wife has had training in our schools, she 
often assists in the teaching. It is gratifying indeed to see how 
neat the dwellings and premises are usually kept by these 
Christian families,— a real model and uplift to the community. 
The school and its surroundings are also kept clean and in 
good repair. . 


BEARDED MEN IN SCHOOL 


The outschool is attended by natives only, and as a rule 
without age limit. It is common to see a bearded man, or a 
woman with a baby on her back, sitting in a class with boys 
and girls just old enough to begin school. I have seen a grown 
man toil almost to perspiration to spell correctly a word in 
his Bible lesson or to get the sums on his slate right. I have 
heard a woman repeat memory verses from the Bible in marvel- 
ous number and with great accuracy while carrying and per- 
haps coddling a baby on her back. ‘The little folk are as a 
rule quicker to learn. A spirit of real earnestness pervades the 
school, and the teacher has little difficulty in discipline. 

If our faithful givers to missions in the homeland might only 
hear the spiritual and advent songs ring out in unison from the 
throats of these dusky children of nature, hear them read and 
recite extended passages of Scripture, with references, and see 
them bow reverently for prayer, always responding with a 
unanimous “‘ Amen ”’ at the close, and then see what a marvelous 
change is wrought in their lives and homes from such teaching, 
truly no gift of self-denial would be begrudged, but rather 
inspiration would be gathered to double it. 

On Sabbath, and sometimes on other days, the teacher goes 
with his pupils into some native kraal near by, and holds 
services, speaking to the people on the wonderful truths of 


THE WORK OF THE OUTSCHOOLS 151 


the gospel for this time. Often, too, one of our native evan- 
gelists comes along and joins the teacher in holding meetings 
in the neighborhood. ‘Those who become interested are invited 
to the school to join the Bible class for further instruction. 


THE BAPTISMAL CLASS 


As soon as any members of the school show a desire to be- 
come Christians and begin to keep the Sabbath, they are put 
into a baptismal class, in which special instruction is given them 
for one or two years, in preparation for baptism and church 
membership. In this work, and in fact in all his school activi- 
ties, the teacher is aided by the visits of an inspector sent out 
from the main station. By the end of the school year, the 
teacher and inspector have made up a list of persons whom they 
deem eligible for baptism. ‘Then, generally, the teacher comes 
up to the annual camp-meeting, bringing his trophies for the 
kingdom with him. ‘The candidates are there given a final 
examination in the presence of the teacher before they are 
accepted for baptism. 

Our outschools are like a net thrown out into the sea of 
black humanity, to gather in those who shall be heirs of the 
kingdom with us. ‘To see this large and substantial fruitage 
in the heart of Africa with my own eyes, and to feel the power 
of the Spirit’s presence while these blood-bought souls were 
being buried with their Lord in baptism, was one of the greatest 
privileges of my life. I want to say to all who are helping 
in this blessed work with your prayers, your money, and the 
gift of sons and daughters, You have not received the grace 
of God in vain, nor are you giving in vain. 


AMONG THE OUTSCHOOLS IN NYASALAND 


Elder G. A. Ellingworth, superintendent of the Nyasaland 
Mission field, tells of one of his many trips among the outschools 
of that field: 

On my way to the Matandani Mission I visited a number 
of our schools near Blantyre. It was impossible for me to visit 
each of the schools under Brother H. J. Hurlow’s care, so we ar- 
ranged to have a general rally at the station for the week-end. 


jy. MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Early Sabbath morning, companies of our people came through 
the woods or down the hills, singing the songs of Zion. As 
there were more in attendance than the church building could 
accommodate, the services were held in the square outside. 
Afterward Brother Hurlow baptized more than thirty in the 
stream that gives to the station its name. In the afternoon we 
partook of the Lord’s Supper, and closed a full Sabbath by 
ordaining Brother Lawson as deacon. Lawson is one of our 
senior native teachers, who has been a great strength to the work 
at Matandani. He and Isaac Golowa go with Brother Hurlow 
to the new field. 

NORTHEAST RHODESIA 

On my return I spent one day at Malamulo to get fresh 
carriers and replenish my food box, and then was off again on 
a donkey to another section of schools. 

A fifteen-mile ride brought me to the first school, where 
Philip had 114 pupils, all ready to begin their daily lesson. 
This first and all-important lesson is Bible, followed by the 
recitation of memory verses and the ten commandments. Then 
come the regular school subjects, all in the vernacular. We 
note the progress of each class, and also any errors in the 
methods of the teacher. Afterward we have a private talk 
with the teacher, and review the notes made in the methods class 
in teachers’ school. 

Later come studies with the class preparing for baptism and 
with the Young People’s Society. “There are usually questions 
on the Bible to be answered, and often disputes to be settled. 
This makes a full day, and at night one is usually quite glad 
to eat and then roll himself in his blankets, knowing that there 
are many more days ahead, holding practically the same ex- 
periences. 

Next morning we were up before the sun, and went down 
a thousand feet to the Chiromo Plains, inspecting schools and 
investigating calls for new schools. We came at length to the 
Shire River. We found the river too deep for the donkey to 
cross, so a native boy stayed with him while we went on foot 
to the schools on the other side, 


THE WORK OF THE OUTSCHOOLS Las) 


A MAN-EATING LION 


When we reached Pokera, we heard a doleful tale. A man- 
eating lion had taken six persons, some from their gardens, 
others who were just walking around. I asked the village 
headman if the men would go with me to hunt it. He said 
they would, but it took much coaxing and threatening on his 
part to get a dozen men to start to the bush with me. We 
followed the trail to no purpose till afternoon, then gave it up. 

At another place I had a pit dug to try to trap a lioness, but 
after I left, the people did not trouble to keep the trap baited, 
so she is still at large and taking toll of the villagers. 

Recrossing the Shire, we came to Bandazi’s village. Bandazi 
is a veritable storybook African chief, big mouthed, shaven 
pated, and clothed only in a scanty loin cloth. He had an old 
string-tied deck chair brought for my use, and spread a reed 
mat for himself. As the crowd gathered, we talked of schools. 
The young people are keen to get what they call “ the wisdom 
of the Europeans,” but the old men prefer their beer,—a 
kind of fermented porridge,— and the old women their customs 
and rites. 

We again ascended to the hill country, and Brother A. P. 
Pond came from the station to join us in visiting the outschools 
for a few days. We spent five days together among the schools, 
trying to show the people that the Great Spirit they fear is 
really a God of love, and desires only their good. 


BOUND BY HEATHEN CUSTOMS 


At Moneya’s the old people were making trouble for the 
young boys and girls in our school who wished to give up their 
evil ways, and who had refused to go through their “ initiation 
ceremonies.” We had a long talk with four headmen and some 
of their wives, and the master of ceremonies. “They had one 
point in common with us,—they did not want the children 
to grow up in ignorance. We asked them to impart what 
useful knowledge they could, but not to compel their children 
to go through those degrading practices that are suited only to 
the vile and depraved. We parted on good terms, but it will 


154 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


take many such meetings to break up the old ways and customs 
in which they have such implicit confidence. 

On this trip I visited thirty schools, and fourteen villages 
that are calling for new schools. We have applied for per- 
mission to open eleven this year. ‘‘ The harvest truly is 
plenteous, but the laborers are few.” 


EVANGELISTIC WORK DURING VACATION 


Brother W. L. Davy, of Nyasaland, in reporting an evangel- 
istic tour among the outschools during the Malamulo Training 
School vacation, has the following to say about the success of 
their efforts: 

I sent five native evangelists to Kalulu school, and five to 
Muona school. Muona is the village of a big chief, and it 
has long been considered one of the hardest places that we 
have labored in. So I determined to see what God could do 
there. Kalulu school had gone down till there was nothing left. 
I rather fancied that the teacher was to blame, so decided to 
go there myself and find out. The evangelists were to go 
around to the outside villages, and the people in the main vil- 
lages were to be left to me. Also I was to accompany the 
evangelists to any place where they met trouble. 


GLAD TO SEE THE WHITE MAN 


On arriving at Kalulu I found the evangelists rather “ blue.” 
They had been there one week, and had only twenty-three con- 
verts. We had a Bible study, and then talked things over. 
I found that the teacher was to blame for some of the trouble, 
and the drouth for the rest. The next day I went around with 
the evangelists and talked with the people. They wanted sev- 
eral things; one was that the school be moved to a more cen- 
tral location. I went to their villages and saw how they 
were situated, and I agreed with them that the school should 
be moved to a more central position. ‘They became very en- 
thusiastic when they saw the white man coming to see things 
for himself. ‘This put new courage into the evangelists, and 
they went to work with a will. 


THE WORK OF THE OUTSCHOOLS Atos! 


The result is that the Bible class at Kalulu now has 133 
members. Also they are putting up a new school building. It 
is 43 feet long and 20 feet wide. I gave the teacher (I had 
sent another teacher there) instructions to make a little Mala- 
mulo of his school. He is going to work with a will. He has 
sent to me for brick molds so that he can make brick seats like 
those in the Malamulo church. He is also planning to visit 
the members of his Bible class three times each week. I im- 
pressed upon him that the care of the sheep included counting 
them quite often, and that if one were missing, he should find 
it. The advice seems to have dropped into good soil, for he is 
working hard. The chief has entered the Bible class. 


ASKING GOD TO CONVERT MLOLO 


Later I went on to Muona, the hard place. I found the 
evangelists there discouraged also. First, the plain was flooded 
and the mosquitoes were very numerous; second, their house was 
not good; third, they were having trouble with the people. 

We had a season of prayer, and the outlook seemed to get 
brighter right away. I talked things over with them. They 
had been visiting in all the villages, and in the outlying ones 
they had made thirty converts. In the central village, how- 
ever, there was no interest. The head chief, Mlolo, had al- 
lowed the schoolhouse to fall down, and he did not seem 
inclined to build another. His headmen followed his lead. 

I told the boys to leave me while I prayed about it. I said, 
“T will tell you afterward.” After I had prayed, I called 
them and said, “ Boys, we must ask God to convert Mlolo.” 
‘They were astonished, and said, “ Him!” I said, “‘ Yes, him.” 
I told them that God’s arm was not weak, but our faith was. 
After a while they began to see eye to eye with me, and they 
went to work with a will. We decided that I should hold 
meetings in the central village, and that they should continue 
to work the outlying villages. 

We preached and we prayed, and finally Chief Mlolo gave 
his heart to God, with most of his headmen, also an underchief 
with most of his headmen. Mlolo called a meeting of all his 


156 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


headmen to discuss building the school. “They decided to build 
it. I said, ““When?” They all shouted, ‘““Now!” and up 
they jumped, and went at it right there, about seventy of them. 
In two days the framework was finished, and on the third day 
they went to get grass to thatch it. 

Then came the news of Brother Pond’s death (Brother Pond 
was superintendent of the Malamulo Mission at the time, and 
was accidentally killed by falling over a waterfall near the 
mission), and I had to hurry home. I have since received 
reports saying that the two chiefs are attending school, and 
that Mlolo is telling his people that he wants to do as much 
for God now as he did before against Him. 

There are 175 people in the Bible class, and a few more to 
come. I have sent good teachers to both places, and a good 
helper for each; so they ought to do well. I am planning to 
go there again in July, if all is well, and help to keep things 
moving. ‘This will be in addition to our periodical outschool 
visits. 





After Meeting, at an Outschool, South Rhodesia 


This school is 37 miles south of the Somabula Mission. The large building 
in the foreground is the schoolhouse, 


ENCOUNTERS WITH DANGEROUS 
ANIMALS 


CERTAIN sections of the Zambesi River abound in crocodiles, 
which are a danger and a menace to both man and beast. 

The following thrilling story is related by Brother G. L. 
Willmore, our pioneer missionary to the Caprivi Strip, a wild 
section of country lying along the Zambesi River between 


Bechuanaland and North Rhodesia: 


BOY EATEN BY A CROCODILE 


A very sad incident occurred at the Kalimbeza Mission in 
the Caprivi Strip only a few months ago. ‘This station is 
situated on an arm of the Zambesi running back from the river 
a distance of about four miles. “The waters of this arm are 
infested with crocodiles, which quite often seize a person or 
an animal coming to the water’s edge to drink. ‘The old chief 
at the village near the mission says that during the course of 
a few years he has lost about one hundred head of cattle in 
this way. 

One morning an old native woman who had been cultivating 
her garden, went down to the river to draw water for drinking 
purposes. As she was dipping up the water with a wooden 
bowl, a crocodile seized her hand, tearing away nearly all the 
flesh from the back of it. It is their custom to draw their 
prey into the water and drown it, but this time the attack 
was unsuccessful, and the woman escaped. 

About noon of the same day, some small boys from the 
village were herding calves near the bank of the stream, and 
one of the boys ran down to the water’s edge to drink. No 
sooner had he stooped down than a crocodile seized him, 
dragging him completely under the water. His terror-stricken 
companions ran home to spread the news, and soon the whole 
village turned out to try to recover the body, but their efforts 
were of no avail. With vengeance in their hearts, they de- 


157 


158 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


termined to kill that particular crocodile sooner or later, if 
possible. In an endeavor to accomplish this purpose, they ob- 
tained a three-pronged hook, and this, after being baited with 
some stale meat and securely chained to a bundle of reeds, was 
placed in the water at the spot where the child had been taken. 


THE CROCODILE ON THE HOOK 


Day by day they awaited results, until on the morning of the 
sixth day a native came running to the mission to report that 
the bait had been taken and the crocodile was fast on the hook. 
Great excitement prevailed as the reptile was drawn toward 
the shore. As soon as its head was out of the water, Brother 
Bulgin, one of our missionaries, fired a charge of buckshot into 
it, but as the crocodile’s head is exceedingly hard, the shot had 
only a stunning effect. In this condition it was hauled to the 
top of the river bank. 


The hatred for these reptiles was fully demonstrated as 
the natives proceeded to dispatch the captured culprit. “They 
stabbed it with their spears and hacked it with their axes, 
mutilating it in every way possible. All this time we were 
unaware of the fact that this was the very crocodile that had 


taken the child. 


Being curious to know what these reptiles eat in general, 
the natives were requested to open the captured creature’s 
stomach. As this was done, numerous bones appeared. One 
of the natives was asked to draw out one of these, and to the 
surprise of all present, it proved to be the arm of the child 
that had been taken several days before. “This monster had 
evidently swallowed the child whole. The expression of horror 
on the face of the father I shall never forget. It was pitiful 
to see him as the grief-stricken man turned away from the 
terrible scene. 

As from time to time we travel on the river in the mission 
rowboat or the little canoe, we think of what might happen 
to us if it were not for the protecting hand of our Father 
in heaven, who cares for His children. 


ENCOUNTERS WITH DANGEROUS ANIMALS 159 


| SPOTTED ASPET LEOPARD 


I am indebted to Mrs. R. P. Robinson, now in the Congo, 
but formerly of the Solusi Mission, for the following extraordi- 
nary story of a pet leopard which she had while at Solusi: 


We had been at the Solusi Mission only about six months, 
when some natives came to report that a leopard was killing 
their goats. The mission 
boys, with Elder Walston 
and Mr. Robinson, were 
soon off for the hunt. 
After an exciting time, 
they succeeded in killing 
a large female leopard. 

Two or three days 
later, Mr. Robinson went 
to the place to see if any 
leopard kittens could be 
found, and upon reach- 
ing the spot and looking 
down among the large 
rocks, he saw two little 
spotted kittens, nosing 
over each other and cry- 
ing for something to eat. 
|} Their eyes were not yet 
: cia ————' open, so of course they 

Spottie made no attempt to get 
away, and he picked them up and carried them home. 

The first two or three days they cried considerably, but 
after that they seemed quite contented with their new home. 
We could not get them to lap the milk, but they would suck 
my little finger while I put the milk into their mouths with a 
small spoon. 

One of them died the first week, but the other one lived and 
grew very fast. We named her “ Spottie.” When we had 
had her about five months, she was nearly half grown. When 





160 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


not eating or sleeping, she wanted to roll, tumble, and play 
all the time. 

While we were at school we had to shut her up in the 
kitchen, and she slept there at night. When the kitchen boy 
came to work in the morning and let her out, she would run 
around by our bedroom window and cry until I let her in. 

If I called her when she was playing in the yard, she would 
come running to me just like a pet kitten or dog. When I 
brought out her dish of milk ready to feed her, she would run 
to her basket and jump in, standing with her forepaws on the 
edge, ready to eat. 


‘A SLY, BUT LOVING CREATURE 


When Spottie grew older, we found it necessary to keep her 
in a small cage whenever we were away from the house, as 
she showed a decided dislike for natives as well as for their 
dogs. But she showed real affection for us. As long as we had 
her, she would always put her forepaws around my neck and 
rub her head lovingly against me whenever I took her out of 
the cage. 

When Mr. Robinson took her out, that to her was the 
signal for a lively romp. As soon as his back was turned, she 
would creep up and spring to his shoulders, then quickly drop 
to the ground again without ever extending her claws through 
his clothing. It was interesting indeed to watch her graceful 
movements as she would creep cautiously along to get near 
enough to make the spring. If Mr. Robinson turned his head 
toward her, she would instantly be standing motionless with 
one paw poised in air where it happened to be as he turned his 
head. Not a muscle would she move till his back was turned 
again. ‘The only way he could watch her was to stoop down 
and look back between his knees. In this way she never seemed 
to realize she was being watched. 

Although she was always biting in play, and often took our 
fingers in her mouth, she never bit to hurt us. She loved to lie 
asleep in my lap, even when she got so large she had really 
outgrown her place there. When we went for walks on Sab- 


ENCOUNTERS WITH DANGEROUS ANIMALS 161 


bath afternoons, we took her with us, and she followed us 
like a domestic animal. 

When Spottie was ten months old, she was about two thirds 
grown, and we had no place to keep her nor time to care for 
her, so we took her to the zoo in Bulawayo. It was very, 
very hard to part with her, and I missed her very much. 


A GRIEF-STRICKEN PRISONER 


It was nearly two months before I had a chance to go into 
town to see her. I naturally wondered whether she would 
remember me. When I prevailed upon the native keeper to 
open the door to the den, I could see her lying in the farthest 
corner in the dark. I called her name, and she instantly raised 
her head. I called again, and she came straight to me, and put 
her paws around my neck and licked my face. Her joy at 
seeing me seemed as genuine as my own. After a few minutes 
I persuaded the keeper to drive the other old leopard into the 
den and shut the heavy door. Having coaxed Spottie out into 
the big iron cage, I went in with her and stayed for some time. 
She was so happy to be with me, and seemed her old self in 
every way. 

A few weeks later I again visited her, and she knew me and 
caressed me as before, although she was now nearly grown. 
But the keeper told me that nothing could persuade her to 
leave the dark den. She seemed to have no interest whatever 
in life, and not long after this the word came that she had 
literally grieved herself to death because of her confinement. 
It was indeed sad news to me, as she had been such an extraordi- 
nary pet. 

Strange why a pet should always come to a tragic end. 
If I am permitted my choice of pets in the land where “ the 
leopard shall lie down with the kid,” I’ll choose a baby leopard. 


A LARGE SNAKE ON THE VERANDA 


One morning at Solusi, says Elder R. P. Robinson, while I 
was working in the back yard, one of the mission boys came up 
very excitedly, telling me there was a big snake on the front 
veranda. 


iM 


162 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN. AFRICA 


Thinking little of it, I walked around to the front of the 
house, and to my great surprise there was one of the largest 
black mambas I had ever seen. It was twisting and writhing 
among the flowerpots, trying its best to get into the house. 
The nurse girl, who happened to be in the front room with 
the two little children, closed the front door to keep the 
snake out. 


By the time I returned from the kitchen with my air rifle, 
the snake had become more quiet. One pellet through his 
head finished him, and on measuring I found him to be just 
over ten feet in length. Where he came from I do not know. 
The black mamba is one of the most venomous snakes of 
Africa, his bite causing almost instant death. 


THE LEOPARD IN HIS NATIVE HAUNTS 


I was out one morning about six miles south of the Songa 
Mission, Belgian Congo, with two natives, continues Elder 
Robinson. We came out of a large patch of scrub timber into 
the open, and to our right for some distance was a strip of 
dense jungle. We were about 150 yards from it when we put 
up a reed buck. ‘This antelope is an animal classed with neither 
small nor large game —he is just between. He is so large, 
however, that it requires two strong men to carry one. And 
he has a pair of horns about a foot long, and very sharp. 


The reed buck ran in the direction we were going, along 
the edge of the jungle through the meadow-like country which 
was evenly covered with thin grass about knee-high. 


When we had gone several hundred yards, I looked around 
and saw one of the native men pointing and making very 
vigorous motions at a certain place in the grass ahead. I 
turned in that direction, and when we had nearly come together, 
I saw out in the grass about 200 yards from us a long-bodied, 
long-tailed, graceful animal, trotting gracefully along, paying 
absolutely no attention to us. I saw right away that it was 
a large male leopard, and that he was hunting the reed buck 
which we had put up. 


ENCOUNTERS WITH DANGEROUS ANIMALS 163 


The buck had lain down in the grass to hide, and I knew by 
the leopard’s actions that there was going to be enacted a 
tragedy as thrilling as any ever staged by any of the great film 
companies, only. this one would be in the wilds of Central 
Africa, the principal actor being one of the fiercest and most 
graceful animals of the Dark Continent, in his own native 
haunts and in his own natural way. I almost held my breath, 
as I stood on a little ant heap watching the leopard’s move- 
ments. 


THESE SGAPE 


He took a slight circle around, keeping his eyes fixed on a 
certain place in the grass. When he got within what he con- 
sidered striking distance, he lunged forward, making one ter- 
rific dash toward the spot. I had almost begun to think he had 
made a mistake, that there. was no buck there; but suddenly 
up came the buck to his feet like an automatic thing. The 
leopard was on him; but either he had miscalculated by a 
fraction of a foot as to the buck’s exact position, or the buck’s 
automatic quickness and the curve he made in leaving the place 
caused the leopard to miss his hold, for his great left forepaw, 
with its five vicious claws, passed down the buck’s back, and 
the leopard went over and over in the grass. 

In leaving the spot, the buck ran by us. O! how he did 
run! And as he passed, I said, ‘‘ You’ve earned your freedom. 
Take it.” 

The leopard got up from his roll in the grass, and looked 
around with a very silly expression on his face. I tried to get 
a shot at him, but he loped off with long, graceful strides which 
carried him rapidly away from us. He ran in the same direction 
that we were going, and a few hundred yards farther on we 
saw him and his mate vanish into a strip of scrub timber 
a quarter of a mile or more ahead of us. 


POT 


‘PUNO IIOF OY} Ul atoUTT[IMA “J “5 Areuorsstpy 


Osu0) oY} UO UOISSIP 3SINT INO JO Suruus9g ay Tz, 








IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 


DurincG the year 1920, Brethren C. Robinson and G. L. 
Willmore penetrated the great Belgian Congo, Central Africa, 
to establish our first mission work in that country. On this 
first trip the two brethren went alone, and spent a number of 
months on the mission farm that had been secured, making 
temporary homes for themselves and their families. Brother 
Robinson went to South Africa about December, 1920, and 
immediately after the general meeting held in Johannesburg 
in January, 1921, returned, with his wife and little boy, to the 
new Congo station. 

After leaving the end of the railway line, it was necessary: 
for them to travel on foot for about one hundred miles. Some 
of the land passed on this journey was marshy, and as it was 
the rainy season of the year, they experienced difficulty in 
reaching the mission. 

The following extracts from the diary written by Mrs. 
Tersha Page Robinson on this journey, though not intended 
for publication, will give our readers a concrete idea of some 
of the difficulties faced in trying to penetrate these far outlying 
fields: 

WEDNESDAY, Fes. 23, 1921.— Here we are camping in 
_ Kayoimbe’s village (Belgian Congo), not far from the river. 
We got across safely in the boat, then went along in a com- 
fortable machilla. Of course Robbie [Brother Robinson] has 
his bicycle, but as yet has not ridden. ‘The roads are covered 
with water and grass, and are so slippery that the natives have 
a hard time to keep from slipping with the machilla, so we 
travel very slowly. 

Our groceries, stove, waterproof paper, and also some native 
blankets never arrived from Elizabethville, so at Bukama we 
had to buy food for the journey. Robbie’s cooking utensils 
and basins did not come, so we bought a pot, a basin, and a 
kettle here, which cost us £2 [about $9]. We could not get 

165 


166 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


any mealie meal [cornmeal] for the trip, so bought a tin of 
oatmeal. We have quite an assortment of tinned stuffs for 
the road. 

The tent is pitched, beds are made, and the boys are making 
a fire while James is getting some food ready. ‘There are 
dozens of natives watching me, and crowds of boys around 
Alan. His tricycle amuses them. ‘The fowls which we brought 
along are out enjoying themselves. 


THE CARRIERS FIGHT 


Oh! there is a fight on between our carriers. Robbie is now 
trying to make peace. They all have great sticks and act like 
wild savages. 

We had oatmeal porridge and condensed milk for supper, 
with some bread. I hate to see the new pot and kettle getting 
so black and burned. Robbie always has special pots for the 
veldt. I am so sorry they are not here. 

SABBATH, FEBRUARY 26.— Three days have passed since I 
wrote, and they have been days of experience. We are here 
at Kabango’s village, about twenty-eight miles from Bukama. 
We are stranded here because of rain. 


TRAVEL BY MOONLIGHT 


Wednesday we went to bed safely: it was a glorious moon- 
light night. At 12:30 Robbie awoke, and it was so light he 
thought it was morning, and roused every one up to trek 
[travel on]. After about an hour we were ready to start. 
He looked at the time, and found it was only 1:30 a. mM. 
However, we started off. Alan and I were very comfy in our 
machillas, wrapped in blankets. On we traveled through 
dense forests and up a very steep hill. Part of the time I 
seemed to be on my head, and other times straight on my feet. 
It was a terrible climb for the natives. It reminded me of some 
of the gorges of Table Mountain, and the water rushed down 
headlong in some places. 

When we got to the top of the hill, the rain came down in 
torrents, and it kept up all day. The roads were turned into 


IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 167 


rivers, and several times the natives fell with me. Soon every- 
thing was saturated, and I sat in soaked blankets and pillows. 
My raincoat was no protection; I was wet through. All day 
we traveled slowly in this condition. Robbie walked all the 
way to this place, never got on his bicycle once. He had put 
his mackintosh on Alan, so he, too, was drenched to the skin. 
He walked knee-deep in the water many times. “Then the roads 
were so muddy and soft that he would sink ankle-deep. 


About 8:20 Aa. M. we stopped at a resthouse. We, with all 
our carriers, huddled around the fire. After having two cups 
of hot Postum, we traveled on. Robbie went ahead with Alan; 
James stayed with me. My machilla boys could not travel so 
fast as Alan’s. I shall never forget that day. “The natives 
became tired and discouraged, and lagged behind. I had the 
cold shivers. My hands were stiff with the cold, so I decided 
to walk and work up a better circulation. I soon got warm 
walking, but what a sight I must have looked! 


CARRIERS ARRIVE AT MIDNIGHT 


Well, about 2:30 we arrived at a government resthouse. 
Robbie and Alan had made a nice fire and roasted some mealies 
before I arrived. I was glad to be in a warm place. ‘This 
house has two rooms and a veranda, so we were very comfort- 
able. By midnight our carriers arrived. Such a condition as 
our things were in! My hand bag was almost ruined, and 
everything inside it was wet. We had to open all our boxes 
and dry the things by a fire. I can’t begin to tell you the 
damage done. Robbie had bought a lot of writing paper, and 
most of it was wet. We should have been all right if we had 
had our waterproof packing paper. We kept up..a big.fire..in 
the room all night, and kept getting up to turn the things so 
they would dry. Yesterday we got most of our things dry and 
packed again. Our blankets and pillows are still a bit damp. 
I had to rewrite my letters. Friday it rained too much to 
travel, and as today is Sabbath, we can’t travel. It is still 
raining. 


168 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


VISITED BY A PROSPECTOR 


It is now 5 p. M. It has rained off and on today, but a good 
bit of clear sky can be seen just now. We called to see Mrs. 
Richardson [a missionary], but found she had gone away for 
two weeks. About eleven o’clock this morning a Mr. White 
[a prospector] came in and had dinner with us, and has just 
gone. He has been in the country more than ten years. He is 
a great talker, and kept us from getting lonely. He is ac- 
quainted with Seventh-day Adventists, and used to go to the 
Cape Town church and Sabbath school when a little boy. 
He was delighted to meet some English-speaking people. About 
noon a Belgian judge stopped here to rest, but finding the rest- 
house occupied, he went to another near here. 


NATIVES HOT TEMPERED AND QUARRELSOME 


Last night there was a big fight between our twenty or more 
carriers and the village people. I never saw anything like it 
in my life. The women were worse than the men. I was so 
nervous and frightened! Robbie tried to make peace, but did 
not succeed very well. ‘The natives here are very hot tempered 
and quarrelsome. Our carriers all ran onto our veranda, while 
their enemies were beating with sticks and shouting outside. 
We had all we could do to keep our carriers from running out 
and fighting. Some of them did, and two of the fighters were 
wounded. 

Two of our carriers gave out on Thursday, and we had to 
leave our flour and one tin of paraffin with a chief in a village. 
We will send for them later. We have stuff strewn all along 
the way between here and Elizabethville. I wonder if we shall 
ever get it all. How glad I shall be to be settled! I feel as 
if I never want to move again. We shall have porridge and 
condensed milk for supper tonight. Well, good night, it is 
time for worship, as the Sabbath is just closing. 


THROUGH HIGH GRASS AND DEEP STREAMS 


CHITSULO’s VILLAGE, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27.— Here we 
are, just fifty miles from the mission. We left our stopping- 


IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 169 


place about daybreak this morning, and arrived here at noon, 
tired and hungry. We encountered no rain on the way, but 
arrived barely in time to escape a terrible storm. How it did 
rain! The road was bad all the way. All the bridges were 
washed out, and we had to wade through deep streams and 
pools. The grass had not been hoed out of the path, and we had 
to walk through grass six or seven feet high in some places. 
Robbie had to walk most of the way; the natives carried him 
through the bad places. 

This is a beautiful country. We traveled up and down hills 
and through beautiful valleys. We are making good time, 
considering the roads and the weather. We are at a govern- 
ment resthouse again. We have the tent pitched under a 
grass-roof arrangement, which is very comfortable. 


AFTERNOON.— It is quite fine again, but we will not start 
on until tomorrow. We had porridge and roasted green mealies 
for dinner. 

Oh, I must tell you that we met with very few tsetse flies, 
because we passed through the district at night. When morn- 
ing came, we saw and felt a few, but did not have to use our 
nets at all. We met a boy sent from the mission with a loaf 
of bread and some cabbages and tomatoes, but they were all 
spoiled, for the boy had been here a week waiting for us. 


Too bad! 
BRIDGES UNDER WATER 


Soncu Monca VILLAGE, Monpay, FEesruAry 28.— We 
left Chitsulo’s village early this morning. ‘This village is near 
the Lovoi River. We had a dreadful time getting over. The 
river had overflowed its banks, and was deep all the way. 
There are four native-made bridges over it, and all but the 
main bridge are under water. “These bridges are simply small 
tree trunks laid across poles. One has to walk very carefully 
over them, for most of them are broken or rotted or partly 
washed away. One of the rear machilla carriers slipped, and 
down I went. Of course I screamed. When we reached the 
middle main bridge, we were stranded, so out of the machillas 


170 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


we alighted. A few of the carriers went first to test the depth, 
which was up to their necks. “Then a big strong fellow put 
Alan on his head and walked across with him. Robbie and 
I stood on the so-called bridge and watched our loads gradually 
carried across. Really, those natives did wonderfully well. 

When all our stuff was over, six strong fellows swam back 
to carry me across in the machilla. “They put the machilla pole 
on their heads, and slowly, with much shouting, talking, and 
excitement, got me across. “lo cross by the small bridge under 
water was the hardest and most dangerous of all. We seemed 
to stick there so long. I expected to go down any minute, 
but did not. Then the natives went over again, and carried 
Robbie across on their shoulders. He had to take off his boots 
and stockings, and roll up his trousers. Alan’s shoes and stock- 
ings got wet, but that was all the damage done. We were 
certainly very lucky. ‘The carriers fell with Robbie’s bicycle, 
but did it no harm. ‘There were loud peals of laughter and 
shouting when they landed me. Robbie is going to give them 
a reward tomorrow for doing so well. 


CAMPING ON A LEAKY VERANDA 


After this experience we traveled through grass seven or 
eight feet high (no road), uphill and downhill and through 
small rivers, until we came to Mr. Correa’s place, or Songu 
Monga village. This is a beautiful place. Mr. Correa has a 
store, but unfortunately he is away. We are camping in a 
corner of his cool veranda. We have put up our tent fly at 
the side and front, so have a comfortable room. 

This is the hottest and driest day we have had since starting 
on our trip. We shall stay here until tomorrow. Little Alan’s 
face looks a sight indeed from mosquito bites. A short distance 
from here two natives were killed in fighting, so it seems we 
have a vicious tribe to work with. 

Luvinpa’s VILLAGE, Marcu 1.— Before I write of today’s 
journey, I must tell you that a terrific storm arose about five 
o’clock yesterday afternoon, and almost washed us out. The 
veranda leaked terribly, and in a little time we could almost 


IN THE BELGIAN CONGO yA 


swim in it. We all had to huddle in a corner. It leaked 
until near midnight. What a time we had! 


CRAWLING ON A TREE TRUNK 


We left Songu Monga village about five o’clock this morn- 
ing. It looked very much like rain, but we were favored with 
good weather. ‘The trip was not hard today. We had a 
couple of bad places to pass. At one place I had to crawl on 
my hands and knees on a tree trunk which served as a bridge 
across a river. We arrived here quite early this morning, and 
decided to remain until tomorrow, because another storm is 
threatening. We shall get home tomorrow. Hurrah! I shall 
be glad. I feel so tired, yet I have done nothing on the journey. 
Robbie and James do the cooking while I sit and watch, but 
the jolting of the machilla is fatiguing. 

We are in a resthouse in a very large native village. ‘The 
natives crowd around and look at us in wonder. ‘The old men 
come and shake hands. We passed a sick man on the road, 
who had been thrown out of his village to die. We are sending 
two men from this village to get him and take him on to the 
mission. 


ASHOT, BATHSFOR THE, CHICKEN 


Our fowls did look pitiful! The poor things were wet and 
dirty. One was nearly dead with cold, so Robbie gave it a 
hot bath, and it seems to have revived. He cares for those fowls 
as if they were children. Alan enjoys every minute of the 
time, and wants to know why it is so far to the Congo. He 
thinks we are not in the Congo until we reach the mission. 
He is now on his tricycle, with the little native children running 
after him. I am called “ Madam” by black and white in 
this country. 

Robbie and I have been giving the sick fowl some hot por- 
ridge, and we think it may live now. 


AT HOME 


Home, Sweet Home! Wepnespay, Marcu 2.— Here we 
are at home! We resumed our journey at two o'clock this 


72 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


morning, and arrived here at nine o’clock, just after breakfast. 
Such a dear little home to come to! The garden in front is 
so pretty, and everything is nice and clean. I have been busy 
today unpacking and fixing things a bit. It will take weeks to 
get the house in order. We have not much furniture. The 
dining-room has a nice sideboard, box case, paper rack, three 
chairs, and a table, all homemade. ‘The kitchen contains only 
a few pots and pans. Our stove has not arrived yet, so we have 
to cook outside over an open fire, and everything seems to taste 
smoky. All dishwashing is done on the floor. 





Staking Out the Songa Mission Farm, Our First Mission 
in the Congo 


Mark on hat shows chief who gave this land. Elders W. E. Straw and 
F. R. Stockil on the ends. 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 


BrotHer R. P. Rosinson gives the following interesting 
description of the journey made by him and his family from 
our old Solusi station to the Belgian Congo, where they were 
among our first pioneers: 


Leaving Bulawayo by train Thursday noon, May 19, 1921, 
we reached Sakania, the border town between Northern Rho- 
desia and the Congo, Sabbath evening. From there on we 
were in the Belgian Congo, where the railway system changed, 
as did also the currency, language, and the customs of the 
people. The Belgians speak French and use the French franc. 

Sunday at one o’clock we reached Elizabethville, a town of 
about 2,000 Europeans. We had shipped all our goods at the 
passenger rate, so they would accompany us to Bukama, in order 
that I might personally see that the carriers landed them safely 
at the mission. But when the train left Monday morning at 
eight o’clock, it took only us and the baggage we carried in 
our hands. We could not get the goods through the customs, 
and they would have to wait, as there is only one train a week 
to Bukama. 

Monday evening we reached Kambove, where the great 
copper mines are. ‘There we transferred to a freight train in 
which was one coach. In our compartment, which provided 
sleeping places for four, were four men, Mrs. Robinson, and 
the two children, but we were glad we had a place to sit and 
sleep that night. 

Tuesday evening we reached Kalule, where the bridge across 
the Kalule River had been washed out and a new one was 
being put in. We spent the night in the train, and the next 
morning carried our baggage across the rickety improvised 
bridge to the train on the other side. 


RIDING IN A BOX CAR 


I had bought second-class tickets at Elizabethville, but on 
arriving at this train and finding no first, second, or third class 


173 


174 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


accommodations, we took a fourth-class box car. After helping 
Mrs. Robinson and the children in, I jumped in to find a place 
for our baggage. “There were nine men and ourselves in the 
car, so there was not very much room left. But seeing a vacant 
place in the back end of the car, I took our belongings there. 
I occupied it, but with considerable care, as my nose and eyes 
revealed to me a large spot where chickens had been kept for 
some time. We had to occupy that place all the afternoon, and 
eat our dinner there, as there was no other vacant space. One 
of the men was kind enough to let Mrs. Robinson use his 
steamer chair, which was the only kind of chair in the car. 
We left Kalule at one o’clock, reaching Bukama at six-thirty 
that evening. 

On arriving at Bukama, we found James, a native worker 
from the mission, who had come with forty-two carriers to 
meet us. Brother C. Robinson had written that he would send 
James, since it would necessitate his leaving his family alone 
for nearly two weeks if he himself should come. The mission 
is just one hundred miles northwest of this terminus, and when 
it is explained that one has to travel the distance by native 
carriers, who travel only fifteen or twenty miles a day, it will 
be understood why so much time is required. 

James was an old Solusi boy, having spent nearly three years 
there receiving his training. Half of that time he spent as our 
kitchen boy, so we were very glad to see him. It was my 
privilege to baptize him just before he left to come up to the 
Congo with Brother Robinson. James is a Nyasaland boy, 
and when he left Solusi, we took Alfred, also from Nyasaland, 
as our kitchen boy. Being old friends, they had corresponded 
with each other, and James had urged Alfred to come up with 
us when he knew we were coming. 

Just before leaving Solusi, Alfred asked to come with us. 
After considering his request carefully, we decided two Chris- 
tian boys at a new mission station would be much better than 
one, so we brought Alfred along. I shall never forget how 
James’ black face beamed with joy as he shook Alfred’s hand 
when we got off the train that evening. 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 175 


James took us up to the Correa Brothers’ hotel(?), where 
we were given a room with nothing in it but a rickety table, 
a small washstand, and some mosquitoes. However, a native 
soon brought in a couple of cots. We hurriedly ate from our 
lunch box and crawled under the nets, where we enjoyed a 
fairly good night’s rest. 


WHERE HORSES CANNOT LIVE 


On Thursday, May 26, the day following our arrival in 
Bukama, we were to begin our long trek of a hundred miles 
to the mission. On account of the tsetse fly, there are no 
domesticated animals larger than a goat in this part of the 
Congo; therefore the native is the only means of conveyance, 
although bicycles are used to some extent by the white man. 
Brother C. Robinson had sent two machillas and a bicycle,— 
the larger machilla for Mrs. Robinson, the smaller one for the 
children, and the bicycle for myself. Eight boys, changing off 
two at a time, carried Mrs. Robinson, while only two were 
required to carry the children. 

On this day I had my first experience in dealing with car- 
riers. In the letter Brother C. Robinson sent by James, he 
instructed us to leave Bukama not later than 3:30 pP. M., and 
cross the Lualaba to a resthome about two miles farther on, 
where we should stay that night and be ready for an early start 
Friday morning. Of course it was my purpose to follow these 
instructions, but the forty-two carriers came before we had our 
breakfast, and wanted their load. I learned later that they 
came early to get the lightest loads. 

‘Twenty-two were required for the luggage we had with us 
and the two machillas, leaving twenty to wait over a week to 
bring some of our most needed things when they arrived on 
the next train. James chose the twenty-two to go with us, 
and I made all arrangements with the others to stay over 
the week. 


WILD AND UNMANAGEABLE CARRIERS 


A wilder lot of men I have never seen in my life. I was 
never more thankful than I was then, for being large and 


176 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


strong, for I had to hold those wild men off by main strength 
to keep them from coming right into the room and taking our 
things before I could get them strapped up. ‘They were after 
the lightest articles. However, I finally distributed the loads, 
and it was done before noon. When once it was done, the 
men sat on their loads and parleyed and argued with James, 
and then with me. “They wanted this and they wanted that. 
I knew, on account of my being a new man, they were only 
trying to get everything out of me they could. 

The twenty who were to remain over, made a demand to 
which I would not accede. “They talked and talked a long 
time. It was getting late, and I told James to get those off 
who had the tent and other equipment, so it would be ready 
when we reached the camping place. James did all in his 
power to get them to start, but they would not move, although 
they were not in the least concerned in the matter. I was 
growing more and more uneasy and anxious, but that made no 
difference whatever ; they did not leave until four-thirty. That 
was very trying, but it was not all. Because I would not con- 
cede to the demand of the twenty, they said they would go 
home, and their homes were a hundred miles away. I left it 
at that, hoping they were only talking. 


HOT, HUNGRY, TIRED, AND DIRTY 


The day was intensely hot, so we did not leave till 5: 30 p. Mm. 
Down at the river bank we had to wait a half hour for the boat. 
When the boat came, there was a scramble for places. Fifty 
natives with their loads got in, and we climbed in, squeezing 
ourselves down among the men. We crossed safely, and reached 
the resthouse just before dark. 

Somehow James had succeeded in getting the tent pitched 
and things nearly ready for us. But we were hot, hungry, 
tired, and dirty. ‘The tent was small and crowded, there was 
no water, and the mosquitoes were thick, and both the children 
were crying bitterly. Mrs. Robinson was suffering intensely 
from headache as a result of the cold she had contracted the 
day before while riding in the open box car. 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 77 


Furthermore, James came just at that time, and reported 
definitely that the twenty carriers had gone home. Before 
leaving Bukama, the twenty-two carriers had demanded extra 
money, for which I knew they had no reason whatever to ask. 
James now told me they were going home with the others if 
I did not give them the money they asked. Well, that was 
enough! My sick wife and two crying little ones seemed almost 
more than I could bear up under; but to have all the carriers 
leave me in such a desolate, fever-infected place, would be a 
bitter experience. Without carriers I could not go forward, 
nor could I go back. I did not know what to do. 

Before going to bed, I called James again, and in talking with 
him I found an excuse by which I could concede to the demand 
of the carriers without doing so directly; so I gave James the 
money for them. ‘The next morning, I was up at 2:15 and 
found the carriers all there. I woke them, and we were off 


ate><b5% 


A TURNPIKED FOOTPATH 


Our road was the government road to Kabinda and other 
places, two or three hundred miles out from Bukama. It is 
really a turnpiked footpath. “The government requires the 
natives to build the roads and to bridge all rivers and marshes 
with poles, and to keep them in repair. ‘The turnpike is about 
ten feet wide, and just after the rainy season the grass and 
bushes are hoed off. ‘The first hundred miles the road runs 
just a little west of north. All along this road, usually at 
important native villages, resthouses have been built. Some 
of these resthouses are large and very comfortable. 

Brother C. Robinson had sent me a typed mileage table which 
gave the names of the villages where the resthouses were; also 
the names of rivers and the distance from one place to the next. 
We found this to be a great help. On Friday, according to 
the mileage table, we were to travel twenty-seven miles from 
Bukama to a large native village where there was a good rest- 
house in which. we could stay over the Sabbath. Nearly this 
entire distance took us over rough, broken jungles, infested with 


12 


178 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


lions and leopards, and for more than twenty miles full of 
tsetse flies. We were unmolested, however, until daylight 
came and the flies began biting us. Fortunately, in this part 
of the Congo they do not carry the sleeping-sickness. “They 
seem to be worse in the bamboo forest. 


MORE TROUBLE WITH THE CARRIERS 


Except for the tsetse fly, everything went on quite smoothly 
till the heat of the day when the carriers became tired and hot. 
I left James and Alfred with Mrs. Robinson, while I went ahead 
with Gracie; her carriers, having a light load, traveled faster. 
Occasionally I made them wait until Mrs. Robinson came up. 
She told me the carriers were acting mean, and I had noticed © 
that she was alone. She said James and Alfred were falling 
back and did not keep up. I didn’t at all like the idea of her 
being alone with the carriers, but it was difficult to do other- 
wise, so we went on. Not knowing a word of this language, 
and James, our interpreter, being absent, we were almost 
helpless. 

Finally Mrs. Robinson told me I would have to do some- 
thing; the carriers were not only mean in letting the machilla 
drop onto the ground roughly, and forcing her to get out and 
walk up the slightest steep places, but once when she refused 
to get out they jabbered threateningly and gesticulated angrily 
with their hands. 

I was thoroughly aroused. We had stopped at a watering 
place, and I knew I could not hold them there till James came; 
so I proposed to keep the two machillas together. I motioned 
to the carriers to take up the machilla so Mrs. Robinson could 
get in. [hey just sat and laughed at me. I waited awhile 
and both of us told them, but with the same result. We 
waited, and all the while Gracie’s machilla was getting farther 
away. 

Well, to cut a long story short, I did the only wise thing I 
could do — calmly pretended I didn’t care. After ten minutes 
of mocking us, they got up one by one andewe started. I 
jumped on the bicycle and dashed ahead, and with quite a bit 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 179 


of trouble stopped the other machilla until Mrs. Robinson 
caught up. I kept them together till we reached the next 
resthouse at +: 30 P. M. 


ASWELCOMESDAY=SOF REST. 


As stated before, it was our intention to stop over Sabbath 
at the large resthouse twenty-two miles from Bukama, but 
instead, we stayed at a little mission station near by. 

An American missionary of the Pentecostal people, by the 
name of Moody, cordially invited us to stay with him. We 
did so, and were well entertained. We very much appreciated 
the opportunity of getting clean as well as getting some good 
food once more. Sabbath was indeed a day of rest to us. 

Sunday morning we were off at 2:45, and reached the next 
resthouse near Kisuhis village at 8:30 a. mM. ‘The carriers 
with their heavy loads had traveled twenty miles in five hours 
and forty-five minutes. “This was a large village, and even 
before the machillas were set down, we were surrounded by 
scores of natives. Mrs. Robinson and the children, as at the 
village where we stopped Friday evening, were the center of 
attraction. But the children were especially the objects that 
attracted them. [They had seen one or two white women 
before, but never had they seen a little white girl and white 
baby. 

AN AFRICAN BEER FEAST 


A big feast and beer-drink was going on in the village, and 
all day and night the yells of the natives and the constant 
beating of their tom-toms reminded us of the rank heathenism 
by which we were surrounded. We were not far from the 
Lovoi River, which not only was full of hippopotami, but 
abounded with mosquitoes. “The insects were already swarming 
around us, and drove us under our nets at an early hour. 

The next morning I was up at 2: 15 to the tune of the beer- 
drink tom-toms, which were still sounding at full force. We 
got away at 3:15, and had an interesting time crossing the 
rickety bridge over the river. The hardest experience for me, 
however, came a little farther along, when we reached a series 





Traveling in a Machilla 


180 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 181 


of very muddy marshes. Supposing the first to be the only one, 
I succeeded in keeping out of the mud and water by very 
laboriously forcing the bicycle through the tall grass to one 
side. A few rods farther I had my labor to do all over again. 
By the time I had passed the fifth of the series, all the carriers 
had passed me, and I was left quite alone, struggling with might 
and main to get through the grass, imagining all the time a 
lion was creeping up behind me; for that part of the country 
was the second and last stretch of lion country through which 
we had to pass. 
A ROYAL RECEPTION 

We reached the Songu Monga resthouse at 6:45 A. M. in 
the greatest triumphal march I expect ever to have accorded me. 
The reception we were given at that great native village, sit- 
uated in one of the most beautiful spots on earth, I shall never 
forget. At the approach of every native village the carriers 
entered, in mass formation, to the tune of a kind of song which 
proclaimed the presence of the mzungu (white people). ‘They 
began singing long before we reached the village, and by the 
time we arrived, hundreds were lining both sides of the road 
which led to the resthouse. “The resthouse, as well as the vil- 
lage, is in the midst of scores of large palms, bananas, and 
other tropical vegetation. 

Those natives escorted us to the resthouse, about three hun- 
dred yards, every one yelling at the top of his voice. I rode by 
the side of the machilla. Looking back, forward, and all 
around, I estimated the throng to be between five and seven 
hundred. It was a sight and a thrill I shall never forget. 


NATIVES’ INTEREST IN OUR CHILDREN 


As soon as we reached the resthouse, I took the children out 
of the machilla. How I wish you could have seen those natives 
and heard their grunts of awe and wonder. I was looking 
especially at one old woman. She had an expression on her 
old wrinkled face which I dare say was never there before in 
her life. She and hundreds of others were seeing what they 
had never seen before. ‘They crowded around Gracie, com- 


182 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


pletely inclosing her, but she paid very little attention to them, 
having become used to it. I have seen her stand playing with 
something while scores of naked blacks stood staring at her, 
and she was apparently unmindful of their presence. I have 
no fear of their ever molesting her, for never yet have I seen 
a single native so much as lift a finger to touch her or any of 
her playthings. 


FIGHTING FOR A STRING 


Our journey to Songu Monga Monday morning was so short 
that I succeeded in getting the carriers to go on to Luzhima 
River. Their consent to go farther, however, was given with 
such reluctance that instead of getting away after breakfast, 
as we intended, it was eleven o’clock before they gathered at 
the resthouse to make ready to proceed. As they were tying up 
their loads, a big fight started among them over a piece of string. 
One fellow ran for his battle-ax, and I thought he was going 
to split his enemy’s head wide open. But he didn’t do what 
his actions indicated that he intended to do. 

We left Songu Monga at 12:30 p. mM. The country over 
which we had been traveling was quite broken and to a great 
extent covered with timber, but that before us was a great plain 
cut up by many rivers. Along the water courses were tall 
trees, but the land between the rivers was fiat and covered with 
tall grass, with occasional patches of scrub timber. “The peren- 
nial water of these rivers is very clear and cold. “The coldness 
is due to the fact that all streams and water courses are bounded 
on either side by dense jungles. In these jungles the trees are 
a hundred feet high, and thus the water is almost entirely 
shaded. 

Among the trees live different kinds of monkeys. Then there 
are the gorgeously colored parrots and birds, butterflies of 
immense size, and other insects of dazzling tints and colors, 
flitting about among climbing plants of every description. 

We had traveled only three or four miles across a plain when 
we came to one of these jungle rivers. It was about two hun- 
dred yards through the jungle. In the middle flowed a little 


FROM SOLUSI TO THE BELGIAN CONGO 183 


stream of clear water which was very cold. ‘The path through 
this entire jungle was made by laying small poles across logs. 
Underneath was soft marsh. 

After traveling seven miles across another plain, on which 
I saw many tracks of large game, we came to the resthouse at 
Luzhima River at 4:30 p. mM. This is one of the few rivers 
which cut so deep through the plain that they form cafions. At 
the Luzhima resthouse we were again surrounded by scores of 
natives. 


YELLS, YODELS, WHISTLES, AND GRUNTS 


Tuesday morning we got away a bit late, at 4: 15, but made 
good time, passing the Lubinda resthouse just after daybreak. 
The carriers again started up their mzungu song before reach- 
ing the village, and how they did yell! In fact, all the 
yells, yodels, whistles, and grunts these wild men have, are 
different from anything any white man ever produced. At 
that early hour the whole village was out waiting for us. And 
then how they yelled as the carriers ran in through the village 
and back out to the road! 

In the next few miles we crossed several rivers and passed 
another large village. But we kept on till we reached the 
Mbota resthouse. We were now only twelve miles from the 
mission, and could easily have completed the journey that day, 
but could not get a carrier to move until the next morning. 
We had arrived at Mbota at 9 a. M., and were very hungry, 
having had no breakfast. All our things arrived, one by one, 
except the lunch box, which finally came just two hours later. 

Wednesday morning, June 1, we left Mbota at 4:30. Not 
long after daylight we came to a straight path leading away 
from the main path. Following this, we soon met Alan Rob- 
inson, Brother C. Robinson’s little boy, coming along on his 
tricycle to meet us. Near the mission house we met Brother 
Robinson, and my first words to him were, ‘“‘ At last, Stanley 
has found Livingstone,” and I believe our rejoicing was nearly 
as great as that of the real Stanley and Livingstone. We had 
traveled 1,350 miles, and had been on the road just four- 
teen days. 


BISOpOuM YON “purjosjoivg “PIL 4} SOA Joy) JO sel q-Buryjouq 


r 





SELECTING NEW MISSION SITES IN 
CENTRAL AFRICA 


In 1923 the African Division committee felt that the time 
had come to make another advance north into the heart of 
the great Congo, and accordingly arrangements were made for 
the author and Dr. John D. Reith to go to Elizabethville and 
accompany Elder E. C. Boger in a search for a location for 
our next outpost in this field. “The following chapters are made 


up from my notes sent, while on this trip, to my family in 
Cape Town, South Africa: 


EN ROUTE TO THE GREAT CONGO 


Turspay, May 29, 11 a. m.— Well, here we are on the train 
for the great Congo. We were in a compartment with four 
others when we left Cape Town, but the smoke was so unpleas- 
ant that we asked the ticket inspector to give us a compartment 
by ourselves. As usual, he said there were no vacant seats, but a 
few shillings helped him to find a whole compartment, to which 
he transferred us, so we are now riding in comfort. “The worst 
smoker in the other compartment was the old man who got on 
with us at Cape Town. He had a big pipe, and puffed con- 
tinuously like a steam engine. 

We have been faring well on the nice lunches you and 
Blanche put up for us.. This morning we had a large glass 
of hot milk on the train, and this made us think we had had a 
warm breakfast. I think we have sufficient lunch to last us the 
entire five days that it requires to reach the Congo border. 

We find that we have all the luggage we can well manage, 
but after all, we could not safely do without any of it. It 
consists of two tin trunks, two lunch boxes, two camp stretchers 
with nets, a stereopticon, Dr. Reith’s medicine kit, and two 
hand bags, also our two bed rolls, consisting of ten blankets. 
Of course, when we reach the Congo, we shall have to add 


185 


186 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


many other things before we launch out into the wilds to locate 
the mission sites. 


SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS 


We were greatly surprised to see snow last night on the 
mountains along the Hex River, only three hours out of Cape 
Town. It has fallen very early this year; usually it does not 
come until the last of June, when it often lies on all the winter. 
The Hex River valley is a great fruit section, and no doubt 
this early snow will cause some of their unpicked fruit to spoil, 
unless it can be gathered soon. It was very cold last night, 
but our coach was heated, so we slept in comfort. 

We are now passing through the great Karroo desert. It 
has not been long since it rained here, so the Karroo “ bush” 
is quite green, and the herds of cattle and sheep grazing on it 
are in quite good condition. My, I should not like to live in 
such a desolate place as this. “The cattle farmers live many 
miles apart, and there is such a sameness to the country that it 
becomes very monotonous. We shall both be glad when we 
get up into the bush country. 


MAFEKING AND LOBATSI 


WepNEsDAY.— This is Wednesday. We have just passed 
Lobatsi, Bechuanaland. This is near Kanye, where Dr. Kretch- 
mar is located, and where he has had such a wonderful expe- 
rience recently in opening up this country to the message, through 
the medical missionary work. Early this morning we passed 
through Mafeking, where Elder and Mrs. W. H. Anderson 
are located and which is now the headquarters of the Bechuana- 
land Mission field. 

It is only about four years since this field was first opened, 
but so wonderfully has the work developed, that today it has 
the largest native membership of any of the local fields of the 
South African Union Conference, though the work has been 
carried on in some of them for more than a quarter of a century. 

Last night at Kimberley we met a young couple who boarded 
our train there en route to Lobatsi. We found they had at- 


SELECTING NEW MISSION SITES IN CENTRAL AFRICA 187 


tended our meetings in the Opera House at Cape Town during 
March and April. The wife is keeping the Sabbath. I have 
taken their name and address, and will put Dr. Kretchmar 
in touch with them, since they are so near him. 


IN THE BUSH COUNTRY 


The farther north we go, the more interesting the country 
and surroundings become. We are now in the bush country, 
where all you can see are scrub trees and a few hills here and 
there. Now and then we pass a small European village, but 
there will be no town now of any size until we reach Bulawayo, 
Rhodesia, the headquarters of the Zambesi Union Mission. 

The natives in this section seldom build near the railway line, 
since they prefer to live their own life uninfluenced by the 
white man’s civilization. “They build far away from the main 
lines of travel, and this gives the country a deserted appearance. 
At some of the sidings they will come out to sell their wares 
to the passengers on the train. We have just passed a place 
where there were scores of half-naked natives selling oranges, 
milk, skins, clay urns, and wood curios, skilfully carved to 
represent various wild beasts and fowls. Some of them were 
very fine indeed. 

One cannot help comparing the mode of travel through this 
country today with what it was when our first pioneers came 
here, some thirty years ago. At that time Mafeking marked 
the end of the railroad line. The rest of the way to Bulawayo, 
and farther north beyond the Zambesi, had to be made by ox 
wagon, requiring months of travel. Today one can take a 
train at Cape Town, and in three days go to Elizabethville, 
which is far over the border in the great Congo. How wonder- 
fully God has prepared the way for the speedy finishing of 
His work! 

THROUGH NORTHERN RHODESIA 

FripAay Noon.—I have not written since Wednesday, and 

now it is Friday noon, and we have already left the great 


Zambesi River to the south of us. We are passing through 
Northern Rhodesia. We had a half day in Bulawayo on 


188 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


Thursday, and visited the Zambesi Union headquarters there. 
We were pleased to find their new European church completed, 
and I am sure it is one of the finest and most representative 
buildings we have in Africa. ‘This will give the Bulawayo 
white church a permanent home, and will give the union a 
most desirable place to hold its general meetings. They are 
also planning to build a new church for the native believers 
in the native section of the town. 

How different is the situation now from what it was when 
our first missionaries landed in this town in 1896 to open our 
first mission station in South Central Africa! The Solusi 
Mission station, which they then established, situated some 
thirty-two miles from Bulawayo, has now grown into a union 
training school, and the work has extended to all parts of 
Rhodesia, to Nyasaland, the Belgian Congo, and East and 
West Africa. Bulawayo is a splendid, up-to-date town of 
about 5,000 white inhabitants and several thousand natives, 
and is surely the logical place for the headquarters of our work 
in the Zambesi Union. 


AT VICTORIA FALLS 


This morning, just as the sun was coming up, we crossed 
the Zambesi River at Victoria Falls. As the rains have only 
recently stopped, the river is in flood, and the sight presented 
by the great falls is wonderful. This is the greatest waterfall 
in the world, the nearest approach to it being Niagara. 

We reached Livingstone only a few minutes after leaving 
the falls, and here the train halted for two hours. This is also 
a large town, and bears its name in honor of Africa’s great 
pioneer missionary explorer. On three different trips through 
Central Africa, Livingstone made his camp near this place, and 
many traces of his work are still to be found here. 

About one hundred miles from here, up the Zambesi River 
and on its south bank, is situated one of our newest mission 
stations, on a strip of territory almost wholly surrounded by 
the water of two rivers, and where no mission work has ever 
been done before. In order to reach this mission, one must 


SELECTING NEW MISSION SITES IN CENTRAL AFRICA 189 


travel up the river in a boat propelled by native paddlers, a 
journey which requires from three to seven days, according to 
the swiftness of the rapids. Coming back downstream, however, 
the trip is made very quickly. 

The great Barotse country lies just north of the river from 
this mission, and for years our missionaries have been anxious 
to open up work there, but were not permitted to do so. Many 
of our best teachers and evangelists are men who have come 
out of this Barotse country to our missions in other sections, 
and last year some of these went back to their homes and to 
the paramount chief’s village, and while there, preached the 
message to their own people. As a result, an invitation has 
now come to our leaders here to visit this country, and we are 
glad to learn that two weeks ago Elders E. M. Howard and 
J. V. Wilson and Brother L. E. Biggs left Livingstone for a 
tour through this section, with the hope of making definite 
arrangements for locating a mission in this tribe. We hear 
that the big chief is on his way to meet these brethren, and 
we trust they will be greatly prospered in their mission. 

This country is very different from South Africa. Northern 
Rhodesia is largely covered with small timber and high grass, 
and withal is very fascinating. In some sections wild game is 
found in abundance. 

As we stop at the railway sidings, the natives come out of 
the woods, where their huts are secluded, to sell us peanuts, 
boiled sweet potatoes, eggs, oranges, etc., and bartering with 
them is very interesting. 


PECULIAR TRIBAL MARKS 


Each tribe has its peculiar tribal mark. Some knock out 
the upper front teeth, some file all the front teeth to a sharp 
point, others cut various characters on the face and arms, while 
the tribal connection of some is distinguished only by the mode 
of doing up the hair. Some tribes work the hair up into high 
topknots, with the assistance of clay and grease. Some shave 
the head, some plait the hair in long braids matted together 
with clay. 


190 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


The natives here wear very few clothes when living in their 
natural state, and their food supply consists largely of corn, 
Kafir corn, and meat. Most of them appear strong and robust, 
and seem perfectly contented with their surroundings. My 
observation is that the native is greatly blessed and uplifted by 
the gospel, when he is led to accept it, but that he is spoiled 
by European civilization. If he could be taught the gospel, 
but left to live largely in his natural state, he would be much 
happier and better. 





Yeta, Paramount Chief of Barotseland 
Missionary L. E. Biggs at left. 


Ave eLIZABE GAVICEE  BEEGIAN 
CONGO 


SuNDAY, JUNE 3, 1923.— Well, here we are at Elizabeth- 
ville, Belgian Congo. Since writing last, we have traveled 
through a great deal of interesting country. We saw our first 
real African jungle as we neared the Belgian Congo. In some 
places the trees, vines, and tall grass grow in such profusion 
and are so tangled that it would be quite difficult to get through. 
Most of the country is wooded, and the trees are much larger 
and prettier than those seen in Rhodesia. 

At Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia, an American gentleman 
got on the train, and rode with us in our compartment. We 
learned that he was making a tour of all the countries of the 
world, studying conditions at first hand. He related many in- 
teresting experiences connected with his travels in Australia, 
New Zealand, and the South Seas. He is now spending some 
months in Africa, and is then going to Asia and South America. 
He disembarked at a small siding near the Congo border, where 
he is spending some time hunting large game. 


SAKANIA A TRANSFER POINT 


When we crossed the Congo border, we came to the end of 
the Rhodesian railway line at Sakania. There all had to change. 
It was not difficult to realize that we were in a foreign country, 
for every one spoke French instead of English. 

We found the Belgian people very polite and courteous in- 
deed, and had no difficulty whatever with the customs or the 
immigration officers. We had to wait six hours before the 
Congo train started north, and found it a very dull place. 
The town consists of a few galvanized iron houses, a small 
electric light plant, a hotel, and the station. We had breakfast 
in the station tea-room, consisting of eggs and bread and butter, 
and something hot to drink, for which we paid six francs, now 


worth about thirty-five cents. 
191 


192 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


One thing that has surprised us greatly is the fact that almost 
everything is cheaper here than in Cape Town. Several things 
that we brought from the Cape for use on our trip, we find 
could have been bought cheaper here. For example, Dr. Reith 
finds that an iron trunk, for which he paid £6 in Cape Town, 
could have been purchased here for about £4. 

We noticed quite a difference in the train carriages on leaving 
Sakania. [hey are built higher from the ground, and the 
compartments are more spacious and comfortable. We were 
rather surprised to learn that all the railway engines are driven 
by native engineers, and that on the freight trains even the 
conductors are natives. It is very evident that, if given an 
equal opportunity, these black men of the Central African for- 
ests could learn to do about everything that the white man does. 
Many of the station masters in the smaller railway stations are 
also natives, and so are most of the police. 


OUR HEADQUARTERS IN ELIZABETHVILLE 


When we arrived in Elizabethville, we were happy to meet 
Elder and Mrs. E. C. Boger and Brother and Sister Le Butt, 
who are located here, and were soon enjoying a rest in their 
hospitable home. Elder Boger is superintendent of the Congo 
Mission field, and will no doubt be permanently located here. 
We were glad to find a good company of native people in the 
evening Bible class being conducted at their home, and to learn 
that several of them had already taken their stand for our mes- 
sage, although these workers have lived here only a few months. 

It seems that our main training school for the southern 
Congo should be established at Elizabethville, since this is a 
populous section, and is also the government headquarters for 
all the southern Congo. ‘There are many mines here, and thou- 
sands of natives are brought in from all parts of the Congo and 
Rhodesia to work in the mines. Many of the men are well 
educated, and if reached with the message, could quickly be 
trained as teachers and evangelists to work among their own 
people. It has been decided, therefore, that the first few days 
shall be spent in looking about here for a site for this mission 
training school, and then we shall turn our faces northward. 





Home of Elder and Mrs. E. C. Boger, Elizabethville, Congo 





On the “Trek” near Kongola, Belgian Congo 
Left to right: Dr. John Reith, Elder E. C. Boger, and W. H. Branson 


193 


13 


194 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


What a vast country is this great Congo! It is about two 
thirds the size of the United States, and we have only one 
mission station in it to represent our message! Where shall we 
go first to make a beginning? ‘This is the question we have 
been wrestling with all day, and it has about been decided that 
we shall go northeast, toward Lake Tanganyika, and there 
select sites for two stations to be manned by the new recruits we 
expect out this year. Thank God that the time has come when 
the great Congo can be opened up, and these waiting millions 
can hear God’s call. How long they have waited! But it is 
not yet too late, if God’s people will awaken to the great needs 
of this wonderful field. 


BUYING FOOD SUPPLIES 


Monpay, JUNE 4.— Well, another day is done, and I must 
try to tell you a little of how we spent it. ‘This morning we 
decided to go shopping in order that we might get our supplies 
packed and ready for the trip which we are to begin in a few 
days. We shall have to camp out for some weeks, and there- 
fore must have supplies to last us for this period. 

The food supplies we have purchased are: 


WO Ur Rice Serer ee ee ee ee 50 lbs. 
APB UG GET Soper tee ee ee ee er Ce ee ee 6 lbs. 
Male’ 25 Peet oe tee ce cee ree 10 tins 
POS GUI esse a oe eee tee eee ane Bada en ae ee 3 tins 
OR Yeray aie eh tea A ARAN tees fle habia in IU dee 1 tin 
OhHeése, - Rive e, sete ER aac Ais ee eet EI 2 eae 4 tins 
ROLY UD» sac cetnateccstpante cis encdleankstbiaate mnue tulsa eee ahaa aed Seaton 2 tins 
Dil sp iGk les pies ee se eae eee ee eer ee eee ae 2 tins 
SEEN hee te eke PLR AE Wt AME th eM ofenrRNR eae oe eds 2 tins 
‘POCA LOGS tac. sess Pee eee eee eee ee 50 Ibs. 
Onions: Fee ee ee ee eee 10 lbs. 
Baked bGans yececis oe a ee ee ee eee 2 tins 
Dir yx DOU ger iscriech Dace hace roca ese eee 10 lbs. 
O atic aie See Sees ae eee ek eee 1 tin 
Moa teh Gi ot. cssc ott leeerhesane ce narvenpocnatrmiet at et veoc cease 2 packages 


We have yet much else to buy before the larder is properly 
filled. We shall take enough fresh bread to last a week or so, 
and then of course we shall have to bake over the camp fire. 
We shall not be able to carry enough to last all the way, but 


AT ELIZABETHVILLE, BELGIAN CONGO 195 


will depend upon buying some food from the natives as we 
pass through their villages. 

Since deciding that our trip shall be toward the great Lake 
Tanganyika, we find that we can travel by train to the end 
of the line at Bukama, then take a river steamboat, and follow 
the Lualaba (Congo) River to some point directly west of the 
lake. “Thence we shall have to travel on foot, perhaps six 
hundred miles. This makes it necessary that we take bicycles 
to help us on wherever it is possible to ride, so today bicycles 
were purchased here for Dr. Reith and me. Elder Boger had 
his already. 

We were able to secure good British-made bicycles for about 
$45, and considering the distance they have been shipped to 
reach this country, we felt this was very cheap. We are taking 
some spare parts and a repair outfit along, in case of emergency. 
We were able to secure thorn-proof tires, so we shall probably 
have very little trouble with punctures. 


Pim DOENO TEWwWRITESERENCH ce 


Our luggage, which was in the baggage car, came right 
through from Cape Town to Elizabethville, and today we went 
down to clear it through the customs. When I appeared at the 
customs office, I was handed four forms, which I was told must 
be filled out in French. I explained that I could not write 
French. “ Well,” said the officer, “ you must find somebody 
who can.” I said, “ Where shall I find some one?” and he 
replied, “Where? I dunno,” shrugged his shoulders, turned 
round to his desk, and went to work. 

I rejoined the rest of the party outside, and we started for 
town to find a customs agent. We succeeded in finding a big, 
fat, good-natured Belgian, who seems to make his living by help- 
ing out in such emergencies, and our troubles were soon over. 
Really, I believe if there were more fat men in the world, 
life would be happier, for they are almost invariably good- 
natured. 

The afternoon was spent in looking up sites for the main 
training school. Elder Boger secured a Ford car at the rate 
of $5 a day; we did our own driving, and were able to visit 


196 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


several prospective sites. “The one which appeals to us most 
is a 200-acre tract situated on a hill overlooking the town, and 
some three miles out. 

This place seems ideal from every point of view. First, it 
is just the right distance from the town; second, it is one of the 
highest points in this section of the country; third, it is on a 
beautiful, hard motor road; fourth, it has running water; fifth, 
there is plenty of wood for fuel; and sixth, it has the best soil 
of any site we have seen. We hear that the woman who owns 
this place is asking about £750 for it. ‘This seems rather high, 
but we shall try to see her tomorrow, and find out if it cannot 
be had for considerably less. I really hope it will be possible 
to secure this place, for it is so ideal in every respect. 


A MODERN CITY 


Elizabethville is certainly a fine town. It is the largest 
European town in the southern Congo. ‘The houses are all 
modern, and are built of brick, with tile, slate, or iron roofs. 
There is probably no better-built town of its size anywhere 
in the world, and it has an air of thrift and prosperity. “There 
are three banks, scores of merchandise shops, a modern hospital, 
schools, hotels, and many beautiful government buildings. A 
mammoth Catholic cathedral is being completed, which com- 
pares favorably with the best cathedrals to be found in other 
parts of the world. 

The city is built on an elevation 5,000 feet above sea level, 
and therefore is a very healthful place for this part of the coun- 
try. [he streets are wide and well laid out. ‘The sanitary 
condition is excellent, and one is impressed with the cleanliness 
of the place. 

THE CURFEW 


‘The natives are placed in locations outside the city, and these 
also are kept immaculately clean. I have never before seen 
such well-built and excellent native quarters anywhere in Africa. 
These locations are controlled by the city authorities, and each 
evening at 9: 30 the bugle sounds the curfew. ‘This means that 
all natives must by this time be off the streets of the city and 


AT ELIZABETHVILLE, BELGIAN CONGO 197 


in their own locations. It appeals to me as being a very good 
system for handling a very perplexing problem. 


CARRYING TREMENDOUS LOADS WITHOUT FATIGUE 


The natives about here seem to be very strong and well 
built, and for the most part comparatively free from disease, 
except that which the white man has brought to them. “Today 
as we went about we saw many specimens of splendid manhood 
and womanhood. While driving through the country, we over- 
took several native women bringing wood from the forest to 
their locations, and we were especially impressed by the size of 
the loads they carried. We decided to try to get a snapshot of 
them, but could persuade only one of them to pose for the 
‘ camera. 

Dr. Reith decided to change places with her for a photo, 
and accordingly shouldered her load and waited for the snap. 
I suppose I took longer than was necessary to take the picture, 
for he looked so comical we wanted to make it last as long as 
possible. When I finally snapped him, he was just about ready 
to collapse under the load, which we estimated would weigh 
at least 125 pounds. The woman laughed heartily at him, 
received her franc for posing, swung her load over her shoulder, 
and ran merrily along the road to overtake her companions. 

These tremendous loads are carried by these women for miles, 
apparently without much fatigue. Dr. Reith, however, has 
just been complaining to me about his shoulder being sore from 
holding her load for four or five minutes, while his picture was 
snapped. One would suppose that the women must eat very 
nourishing food, but when you investigate, you find that they 
live almost exclusively on cornmeal, cassava root, and meat when 
they can get it. How do they develop such splendid physique 
and such strong muscles? Well, since we have a doctor in 
the company, I will leave this problem for him to solve. 


COLD WEATHER NEAR THE EQUATOR 


JUNE 6.— We talked so late last night that I decided not 
to write anything of the day’s happenings, so I have that task 


198 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


still before me this morning. We have just had breakfast, and 
will soon be out arranging for our trek northward. It is so 
cold that I have on my heavy overcoat, and find it very 
comfortable. 

Last night as we sat visiting on the front veranda of Elder 
Boger’s home, we had to wrap blankets around us to keep warm. 
It reminded one of a scene on the deck of a ship when all the 
passengers are wrapped up to keep out the chilly winds. How 
different the climate is from what one would expect to find in 
the heart of Africa! Of course this is the beginning of winter, 
and we shall probably have cold nights all the time we are in 
the Congo, although part of the time we shall be directly on 
the equator. 

Yesterday morning was a busy time for us. We went first 
to the Standard Bank, and changed our South African money 
into Congo francs. We received eighty-five francs to the pound. 
We have so much money now that we shall have to take a 
special carrier to carry it for us, as most of it must be in metal, 
since the natives in the interior will not accept paper money. 
It reminds us of our missionaries in China telling of taking their 
money with them in a wheelbarrow. 

We also did some more shopping, and while in one store the 
proprietor, who was a Jew, asked who we were. Upon learning 
that we were Seventh-day Adventists, he told us that he knew 
our people, and that he had been greatly benefited by a month’s 
stay at the Health Institute at East London, South Africa. 
While there, he had learned to have great respect for Seventh- 
day Adventists. Dr. Reith is to see him again today to give 
him some medical advice, and Elder Boger will accompany 
him in order that he may form this man’s acquaintance, and 
follow up the interest. 


NEW ‘BICYCLES FOR THE TRIP 


We received our new bicycles from the shop yesterday, and 
now we are independent, so far as getting about is concerned. 
In the afternoon we rode out again to the proposed mission farm, 
and spent some time investigating possible building sites and 


AT ELIZABETHVILLE, BELGIAN CONGO 199 


looking up the general surroundings of the place. This appeals 
to us as being one of the most ideal locations for a mission 
training school that we have anywhere in Africa. 

In the afternoon we shipped a portion of our supplies north 
to Bukama by freight, so they would arrive by the time we do. 
We had too much to take it all with us on the passenger train. 
From Bukama we will take everything with us by boat down 
the river (the Congo River at this point flows northward) 
until we disembark to strike into the bush. “There we shall have 
to secure carriers for the rest of the journey. We shall of 
course take with us from Elizabethville our cook, camp boy, 
and an interpreter. 

Well, the brethren are wanting to go, so I shall have to leave 
the rest to be related at another time. There is a mail leaving 
for Cape Town today, so you ought to have this in less than 
a week. ‘There are two mails a week each way. 


A MISSION SITE PURCHASED 


JUNE 7.— We have secured the mission site of which I 
wrote you a few days ago, and are all very happy over it. 
It surely will make an ideal location for our native training 
school for the southern Congo. Work will begin at once, and 
a school will be in operation in a few weeks in temporary 
buildings made of grass. ‘The permanent buildings cannot be 
erected until next year. Today we will go out and plan for 
the building sites. 

Last night Brother Boger gave a stereopticon lecture in his 
dining-room, and the room was packed with interested natives. 
Almost every evening James, our native evangelist here, con- 
ducts a Bible class under a shed in Brother Boger’s back yard. 
It is well attended. We went out the other evening and 
heard him drilling the natives on the subject of “ Tithes and 
Offerings.” 

James is one of the native workers the Nyasaland field sent 
to the Congo to help them get the work started here, and he 
surely is doing good work. Already there are quite a number 
of educated natives who have taken their stand for the truth, 


200 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


and these are waiting to enter the school as soon as it is opened. 
We hope to see this mission become a strong training center 
for the preparation of workers for the great Congo field. 


A PRIMITIVE MEAL 


LatTer.— We have just been out watching some of our 
native workers preparing and eating their dinner. It was 
prepared outside, over an open fire, by the wife of one of the 
men, and consisted of cornmeal porridge and meat. The meal 
is stirred into boiling water until it is as stiff as it can be stirred 
with a huge wooden ladle, and when the pot begins to slip 
about over the fire, the woman draws it a bit to one side 
and holds it between her feet, apparently without the slightest 
discomfort. 

When it has cooked long enough, it is turned out into a dish, 
usually made of wood, and the men are served first. “The meat, 
which is cooked in a separate pot, is cut into small pieces and 
a gravy is made with it. When all is ready, the men gather 
around, and each one takes a small handful of the thick por- 
ridge, dips it into the common pot of meat and gravy, and 
eats from the hand. 

When the supply is about half gone, the eldest of the com- 
pany stops eating, then another, and another, until finally the 
youngest is left to finish alone, and then it falls to his lot to 
wash the pots. If, however, he does not feel disposed to do so, 
he may leave this task for the women. 

If the vessels are large enough to cook a sufficient supply for 
all at once, then the women gather in a separate group and eat 
at the same time as the men; but if not, as was the case today, 
then they seem to have the advantage, since they see to it that 
the largest supply is reserved for themselves, giving the men 
just what they think they should have. It is a custom of the 
native also always to share his food with any friend or stranger 
who may be present, even though this makes his own supply 
insufficient. 

These people are very bashful when white people come around 
at mealtime, and it was with difficulty that we persuaded them 


AT ELIZABETHVILLE, BELGIAN CONGO 201 


to go on with their meal today, while we were present. “The 
last one through today was a little boy seven years old, and 
he was so bashful that he slipped the pans to one side, and left 
them for the women to wash. ‘The people seem to be rather 
clean in their habits, whereas some tribes are just the opposite, 
leaving their pots dirty from one meal to another. Thus they 
are usually covered with flies and filth until they are used again, 
and then another fresh layer is added. I have seen pots in use 
that had not been cleaned for months. ‘This, however, is seen 
only among the low slave tribes, in whose hearts there seems 
to be very little self-respect left. 


DESCENDANTS OF A POWERFUL RACE 


One thing that impresses one here is to see how straight the 
women stand. ‘This is perhaps due to the fact that they are 
the burden-bearers, and the wood and water are all carried on 
their heads. “They look very dignified as they go along with 
head erect and shoulders thrown far back. 

One recognizes in these people descendants of a great and 
powerful race; and even today, where they have not come in 
too close touch with European civilization, they are far superior 
to the white man in physique and endurance. If any one desires 
evidence that they are really human beings, he can find it in the 
fact that one of these men, whose forefathers never attended 
school as far back as history goes, can emerge from the forests, 
go to school a few years, and then enter medical college or a 
university in England, and make as good grades as the white 
man beside whom he sits in the classes, though the white men 
have the advantage (or is it a disadvantage?) of centuries of 
civilization. 





‘e[OSuOY 0} vUeyNg Wo1Z pokouinof Ajied siy pue 19}11M 9} JeOG SIY} UO 


osuo0y Jedd 410 ‘eqejeny 9y} uO ,,UIsnoD smnoT,, JoUrRa}g JVATYT 


‘ 





AT BUKAMA 


WE are now at Bukama. ‘This is called the jumping-off 
place, as it is the end of the railway line, and it has the ap- 
pearance of being almost the end of the world. The journey 
from Elizabethville was quite uneventful, except for meeting 
a few fellow missionaries along the way, who seemed very glad 
to meet, even for a few moments, some one who had come in 
from the outside world. 

At Panda we met a man and his wife who are working under 
the auspices of the Methodist Mission Board, and who have 
opened up mission work among the Belgian population of this 
mining center. As he was an American, and from Illinois, he 
was especially pleased to meet us. Americans are few and far 
between in these parts. 

One of our fellow passengers to Bukama is a New Zealand 
gentleman who, with his wife, is returning to the Congo after 
a much-needed furlough to their home. ‘They are working in 
the central Congo, far to the north of Bukama and down the 
Congo River. “They are connected with the “ Brethren,” and 
seem to have quite an extensive work in some parts of the 
Congo. ‘They will continue with us for some time yet on our 
journey. 


ANAS To PCATEAU 


The country between Elizabethville and Bukama is a vast 
plateau, and rises in some parts to about 7,000 feet above the 
sea. If only the dread mosquito could be eradicated from 
this country, it would be one of the fairest lands on earth. 
The climate is wonderful, and of course as this is the dry 
season, there are very few mosquitoes. It is very delightful 
indeed. ‘The entire country is covered with light forest, and 
except for a few native compounds near the little railway 
stations, has a deserted appearance. ‘The native people stay as 
far away from the white man’s inventions as possible, except 
when they come out to earn money as laborers or servants. 


203 


204 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


This they do largely because they must pay an annual tax to the 
government, and there is no opportunity of earning this money 
in their own villages. 

Our train last night ran at the alarming rate of 25 or 30 
miles an hour. This speed would not be considered very alarm- 
ing in a place like Cape Town or New York, but up here, on 
a narrow-gauge railway, over a roadbed poorly laid, and with 
a native engine driver at the throttle, we felt that the speed 
was dangerous. I awoke many times in the night with the 
sensation of rolling out of my berth, as we would swing round 
a sharp curve and start down a steep hill. However, the eye 
of the Lord was upon us, and we were preserved from all harm. 

The trains up here are much the same as at the Cape, except 
that not so many passengers are placed in one compartment, 
four being the maximum. Each coach has six compartments, 
and each compartment contains sleeping accommodation for 
four persons, with room for their hand luggage. Altogether, 
they are very comfortable. ‘There is a dining-car, in which 
one can secure very good meals for from 60 to 75 cents. 


A QUEER VILLAGE 


Bukama is a queer little village, situated on a knoll over- 
looking the banks of the Lualaba River (the name of the 
southern end of the great Congo). Its few shops and houses 
are built of corrugated iron, or of poles and mud, with thatch 
roofs. ‘There are two hotels, and since the better one was full, 
we had to go to the poorer one. ‘The three of us were given 
one small room in a pole-and-mud building with one single 
bed. The bed did not look very inviting, so we had it removed, 
and put up our own cots instead. We put nets over our cots 
as a protection against the few mosquitoes that were about, but 
this morning we found that fourteen out of the fifteen mos- 
quitoes in the room, were under our nets. 

Our meals are served to us in our room, for which we are 
very grateful, as the general dining-room is not very inviting. 
Today at 10 A. M. we expect the river steamer to come in, 
and then we shall go aboard and have better quarters. It will 


AT BUKAMA 205 


require about five days to reach Kongola, and there we shall 
take a train farther north, or strike west across the country 
toward the great lake. “There are several telegraph and wire- 
less stations along the way, and we can get into touch with the 
outside world at almost any government station along the river. 

Our tent and most of our food supplies were shipped from 
Elizabethville by freight. So far they have not arrived. We 
understand there is to be a train in today, and we hope these 
things will come. If not, then we shall have to go on without 
them, for to miss this boat would mean a delay of eight or ten 
days, and we would rather take our chances in the bush with- 
out tent and food than to be forced to remain here another 
ten days. 


A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT 


We were met here by twenty-six boys from the Songa 
Mission, which is situated about one hundred miles to the north- 
west. Brother and Sister R. P. Robinson are in charge of our 
work there, and as they expected us to pass by their mission, 
they had sent the boys to carry our luggage for us. It has been 
decided, however, that we shall go eastward to the lake, instead 
of going west, and so the boys are returning empty handed. 
We are very sorry indeed to disappoint Brother and Sister 
Robinson, as a visit from a friend in a far-away place like theirs 
is something to which they look forward for months; but it 
seems best for us to go on north, and I am sure they will for- 
give us. We are keeping one of their boys, Shem by name, 
to go with us, as he speaks English quite well, and will be a 
good capiteu (foreman) over our carriers. 

The Songa Mission has for three years been our only mission 
station in all this vast Congo country. ‘This site was selected 
in 1919 by Brethren W. E. Straw and F. R. Stockil, and the 
work was opened in 1920 by Brethren C. Robinson and Gilbert 
Willmore. Brother R. P. Robinson joined them the following 
year. These brethren have worked until almost exhausted in 
endeavoring to build up the station and get the evangelical 
and educational work started in a strong way. 


206 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


A JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES 


Varied and often seemingly incongruous are the activities 
of the missionary who thus pioneers in a new field. He cannot 
pose as a specialist, and refuse to do work not considered in 
his line. He may be an ordained minister, but he must also 
do the work of farmer and ox driver, doctor and dentist, 
machinist and mason, bookkeeper and carpenter, cobbler and 
architect, diplomat, judge, and explorer. He may be a doctor, 
but he must also fit in as a preacher, teacher, nurse, painter, 
brickmaker, cook, veterinary surgeon, furniture-maker, and 
builder. If he is a teacher, he must also be ready and able 
to do everything else that is to be done to prepare and cultivate 
the land, build up the station, and minister to every real or 
imaginary need of the native. 

Our workers at the Songa Mission found it very difficult to 
interest the people in the message from the white man’s God. 
But they have kept on praying and working, and results are 
being seen. 

At first it was hard to get the natives to attend school. 
They were suspicious of the white man. But a number of 
them were engaged to clear part of the mission land of trees, 
and to assist in building operations; and as a part of their 
work they had to attend school for two hours each day. At 
first they objected, but finally they became reconciled to the 
plan, and began to manifest an interest in their studies. Now 
others have come from outlying districts to ask for admittance 
to the school. 


GOD OPENS THE WAY 


These workers have been handicapped in not having some 
good native evangelists and teachers who could speak the lan- 
guages used in that part of the country. However, this diffi- 
culty has been partially overcome by the wonderful working 
of divine Providence. 

Many years ago a native tribe from Portuguese West Africa 
came over to the country where our mission is located, on a 
raiding trip, and carried off a number of slaves. Some of the 


AT BUKAMA 207 


slaves settled near the Kaleni Hill Mission, across the borders 
of the Congo, in Angola. “Two families in particular were 
educated at the mission, and two members, father and son, are 
teachers. ; 

These families desired to leave the land of their captivity 
and return to their own country; so last November, they left 
the Kaleni Hill Mission for their old homes. Our mission 
station is located only a few miles from their homes. 

On the way, one family remained behind, the other con- 
tinuing the journey. The plan was for this family to find 
a suitable place to locate, and then return for the other family. 

In December the first family arrived at our mission, and 
presented a letter from the superintendent of the above-men- 
tioned mission, addressed, “To our Friends in the Congo.” 
This letter requested the director to allow these families to 
settle at the mission station. 

Elder Robinson was very glad indeed to welcome these 
natives, and a few days later a member of this family left our 
mission to show the family that had remained behind, the way 
to the mission. “These families soon responded to the message 
they heard at our mission, and now are doing acceptable work 
as teacher-evangelists among their own people. 


NATIVE CURIOSITY 


[We have already told, in two previous chapters, of the 
difficulties encountered by the two Robinson families on their 
journeys to the Songa Mission. ] 

A letter, received from Sister Robinson, tells in a graphic 
manner some of the experiences they passed through in pioneer- 
ing the work at this station. She says: 

When we came to the Congo, a little over a year ago, we 
found conditions far from easy. We seemed to be only a source 
of interest and curiosity to the natives to whom we had come 
to give the news of salvation. 

Daily we had visitors from the surrounding villages, who 
came to gaze at us and everything we possessed. Our organ, 
gramophone, cookstove, and sewing machine were the most 


208 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


wonderful things they had ever seen. Quite often groups of 
natives came especially to see the white man’s things. ‘The 
gramophone seemed very wonderful. Sometimes as many as 
one hundred people came to hear it. “They wondered how the 
same box could make so many different kinds of noises. To 
make a garment required no skill, for the sewing machine 
did all the work, so they thought. 


TALKED AND LAUGHED IN MEETING 


I wish you could have had the privilege of stepping into 
our Sabbath services a year ago and again today. You would 
note a vast difference in behavior. 

A year ago the news of the Saviour did not appeal to them. 
It seemed almost impossible to hold a religious service, as the 
people commented loudly on the words spoken and on anything 
else which was going on. ‘Talking, whispering, and laughing 
would interrupt the speaker, and if any one happened to come 
in whom they had not seen for several days, they always had 
to rise and greet him. 

The natives here are very demonstrative in their salutations, 
and it is amusing to an onlooker. They embrace and clap each 
other on the back with both hands, at the same time exclaiming, 
“Wako! Wako! Wako!” in a happy, excited manner. You 
can imagine for yourself such a scene in a Sabbath service. 

I cannot find words to describe the singing. It seemed an 
almost hopeless task to teach them, for they had no idea of 
carrying a tune. We had to teach them that, as well as all the 
other things. 

After teaching them to repeat the Lord’s Prayer, the next 
step was to teach them to bow their heads and close their eyes 
in reverence. ‘To them there was very little sacredness about 
it, and for several weeks, each time prayer was offered, one 
could hear suppressed laughter and giggling. “They seemed to 
find a funny side to everything we tried to teach them. 


AFRAID STUDY WOULD KILL THEM 


Their behavior in school was worse, because they did not 
care to learn. They were afraid that something dreadful would 


AT BUKAMA 209 


happen to them if they learned to read; and some of the older 
people told them they would die if they attended school. So 
we had to require all our hired laborers to attend school, and 
gradually others came in as they saw that nothing dreadful 
happened to those who attended. 

But today how very different, although there is still much 
room for improvement. “The Sabbath services are attended with 
good interest, and interruptions by laughter and talking are 
all in the past. Heads are bowed in reverence when prayer is 
offered. “They can repeat the Lord’s Prayer, the command- 
ments, and some scriptures. “The singing seems to be almost 
as good now as any we hear in our older stations. ‘They sing 
the mission hymns at their work and play, and also in the 
villages. These have been substituted for the wild native 
chants which they formerly sang (or shouted). 

Now they are more eager to enter school, and they are making 
good progress. In a few years we hope to have some far enough 
advanced to become teachers for the village school work. 

Twelve local natives have indicated their desire to follow 
Jesus, and have joined the baptismal class. 


THE FIRST REAL SABBATH SCHOOL 
Last Sabbath we held our first real Sabbath school. As we 


saw the teachers leading their classes out to study the lesson, 
we felt that the work is making some advancement, and that 
it is slowly becoming more like that at the stations where we 
used to labor. ‘To the Lord be all the glory. 

Only those who have experienced working in new soil, among 
the most benighted people, can realize the discouragements and 
hardships there are to be contended with in opening new work. 
But all these are soon forgotten when the worker sees these 
once ignorant heathen rise and tell of their desire to follow the 
Lord Jesus, who died for them. 

We are glad that the day has now come when other centers 
can be opened to help bring the light of truth to the twenty 
or twenty-five million of the Congo, most of whom have never 
as yet heard the story of the cross. 


14 


(osuo0y) Joddy) JAY eqeieny] [NJWNesg sy} UO dUaDG VW 





ON THE LUALABA RIVER 


JUNE 13, 1923.— We finally got away from Bukama, and 
are now gliding down the Lualaba River in a fairly comfortable 
steamer. We were scheduled to start this morning at 7: 15. 
When we came on board last night, we had given up all hopes 
of getting our tent and supplies, as the freight train had not 
arrived. We were told, however, that we would be able to 
purchase a fresh lot of supplies at Kongola, so we were not 
feeling so bad as we otherwise might have been. 

But about nine o’clock, just after we had held an indaba 
(council) over the matter, Elder Boger went ashore, and soon 
returned with the animated announcement that the train had 
arrived! We hurried at once to the station master, and in- 
quired about getting our supplies released at once, but this dis- 
tinguished gentleman coolly informed us that he did not work 
at night, and we must wait till morning. 


“A SERIOUS MATTER” 


We retired early, but did not sleep much. The doctor had 
set for himself the task of waking us all up early, so we could 
make sure of getting our things aboard, and this evidently 
preyed upon his mind, for he tossed about and talked in his 
sleep of many things which were hard to be understood. At 
one time I was awakened by hearing him say, “ This is such 
a serious matter that I believe when we get settled down, we 
had better take a whole day to consider it.” Well, it was a 
serious matter, but we succeeded in getting everything safely 
aboard just a few minutes before the time for departure, and 
were able to breathe a sigh of relief. 

The Congo River is one of the most scenic rivers in the world, 
as well as the longest. It is said that, with its tributaries, it 
has 10,000 miles of navigable waters. Its banks at places are 
lined with palm forests and jungles, alive with birds and chatter- 


211 


Big MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


ing monkeys; again these give way to rolling plains covered with 
wild game. “Today we have seen many hundreds of water buck, 
leisurely grazing on the bank, looking up only to give us a 
passing glance as we glide by. 

June 14.— All day today we have been passing through a 
great swamp, which, except for the main current of the river, 
is one mighty sea of grass, which grows to a height of from 
eight to ten feet. Except for a few birds, practically all animal 
life has disappeared, and the scenery has been quite monotonous. 
We have passed several villages on little patches of land along 
the river, some of the huts actually standing in the water. Here 
the natives come, after the high water recedes, to trap and spear 
fish. ‘These fish are dried, sent up the river to Bukama, and sold 
to the. thousands of natives in the compounds who are engaged 
to work for the white population. 

These fishermen ply up and down the river and through the 
swamps in canoes dug out of huge logs brought from the forest 
skirting the swamps. ‘They look exactly like the canoes used 
by the American Indian, and are used just as skilfully. As we 
passed, scores of little boys from these villages swam far out 
into the river, racing with each other to get bottles and food 
thrown to them by the passengers from our boat. 

It is now later in the afternoon, and we are coming out of 
the swamps and nearing the hills, which we have seen all day 
in the distance. ‘To our left is a high range of mountains, and 
we have just passed a large Catholic mission, operated, I believe, 


by the so-called “‘ White Fathers.” 


BEEHIVESHUTS 


JuNE 15.— Last night we stopped at Mulanga, where we 
anchored till morning. There are so many sharp turns in the 
river that the boat travels only in the daytime, and the nights 
are usually spent at some trading station along the shore. At 
this place our fellow missionary travelers, whom I mentioned 
before, left us. “They were joined by friends who will assist 
them in completing the remaining thirty miles of their journey 
in a canoe. ‘They have been away from their mission for 


ON THE LUALABA RIVER 213 


eighteen months, and will no doubt be happy to get home 
again. 

Today we are passing through beautiful country again. 
There are many trading stations along the shore, where white 
merchants supply the natives with the things they have learned 
to want since coming in touch with European civilization. 
This appears to be a populous section, as we are passing many 
villages, some of them quite large. “The huts in these parts 
are built almost entirely of poles and grass, in the shape of 
beehives, and are smaller than those seen in most parts of South 
Africa. The people, however, are generally strong and active, 
and we have often remarked in the last two days that finer 
specimens of manhood could scarcely be found anywhere in 
the world. ‘They are straight, muscular, clean, and exception- 
ally well developed. 


POOR FOOD AMID PLENTY 


The food served on the boat is very poor. As a result of 
having eaten something that was not too fresh, the doctor is 
ill today. I do not think his sickness will be at all serious, but 
he is remaining in the cabin most of the time. We have just 
succeeded in buying some good fruit and eggs from natives along 
the shore, and hope to fare better from now on. : 

This seems to be quite a fruit country. We have seen fine 
bananas, plantains, pineapples, pawpaws, lemons, and oranges 
along the way, and the natives sell these to the passengers at 
the stopping places at ridiculously low prices. 

We are passing through a valley, between two long ranges 
of hills, and the scenery is much better than yesterday. 

June 17.— The doctor is well again, for which we are all 
very grateful. The food has also been much better the last 
two days, due perhaps to the fact that the two old goats which 
hung at the rear of the second deck have either been used up 
or completely spoiled, and the diet has been changed. Another 
goat was brought aboard, but so far it is still alive, and we 
are hoping that it will not get into the soup until after we 
leave the boat. 


214 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


MODES OF TRAVEL 


Yesterday, we reached Kobalo about 4:30 Pp. M., and an- 
chored for the night. From this place there is a narrow-gauge 
railway which runs directly east to Albertville, on Lake Tan- 
ganyika, thus connecting the great lake with the Congo River. 
Two of our fellow passengers are taking that course to return to 
their home in Greece. “They will cross the lake in a steamer, 
then go by rail to Mombasa on the east coast, where they will 
get a seagoing vessel to carry them home via the Red Sea and 
the Mediterranean. Several others on board are following the 
Congo River to its mouth at Boma, and from there will get a 
ship direct to Belgium. ‘To reach Boma, they must travel part 
of the time by boat and part by rail, since the river is not 
navigable in some places, due to swift rapids. The govern- 
ment has constructed railways around these places, making 
traveling by this route comparatively easy. No doubt most of 
our missionaries who come to the Congo in the future will 
come this way instead of going to Cape Town, and then having 
to make the long trip up through the country. 

In some four or five years’ time there will be a much better 
route of travel, as a new railway is now under construction 
from Bukama to the main channel of the Kassai River. ‘This 
will make it possible for one to go from Boma to Bukama in 
about ten days, whereas it now requires from twenty to thirty- 
five days, depending upon the season and the connections. This 
new railway will open the great Congo country to the gospel 
as nothing else has ever done, and it is being built just at the 
time when we are seriously considering the occupation of this 
territory. How wonderfully God works to prepare the way 
for the onward flight of His message! 

We are now nearing Kongola. ‘The captain says we should 
reach there by 11 A. mM. We are not sure yet where we shall 
go from there, as we hope to meet the administrator of this 
district, and ascertain from him the condition of the country 
and its population. We also hope to learn the best overland 
route to the lake, as we plan to trek across instead of taking 
the railway, in order that we may thus become better acquainted 


ON THE LUALABA RIVER 21D 


with actual conditions. Should we decide to go farther north 
before striking east, we will take the railway from Kongola to 
Kindu, and perhaps a day’s journey from Kindu still farther 
north by boat. -However, this is all uncertain until we learn 
more of the country. 

We have had a very pleasant voyage indeed (except for the 
old goats), and we shall be very sorry to leave the boat. “Today 
we are passing through rolling country with high hills, almost 
mountains, dotted here and there, and it has the appearance of 
being a very suitable place for Europeans to live. It may be 
we shall decide to locate a mission in these parts. 











The Writer at the Wheel of the 
“Louis Cousin ” 


eoury Aq eqeieny oy} Suojy 





AT KONGOLA 


JuNE 18, 1923.— Since writing my last note, our plans have 
materially changed. As I indicated at that time, we were very 
favorably impressed with this country as a good place for a 
mission, and we accordingly decided to see what openings there 
might be here at Kongola. As soon as we arrived yesterday 
morning, we sought out the administrator of this district, and 
made an appointment with him for eight o’clock last night. 
We were to see him at his residence, and he charged us not to 
come late. 

When we arrived, we found he had forgotten about the ap- 
pointment, and had retired. However, he received us warmly, 
and sat all the evening in his pajamas, talking with us about 
our work. When he learned that we were Protestant mission- 
aries, and that one member of our company was a doctor, he 
became exceedingly friendly, and assured us that he would do 
everything within his power to assist us. 

He informed us that for about one hundred miles each way 
there are no Protestant missions, but that the Catholics have 
a monopoly of this entire district, which is one of the best in 
the Congo. The people, however, are growing tired of Cathol- 
icism, and now the country is open to others to come in. Provi- 
dentially we are the first ones on the ground, and have been 
received with open arms. We shall no doubt have great oppo- 
sition, but so long as God is leading, the work cannot be 


hindered. 


The administrator reports that the population here is nu- 
merous, and we find the natives to be larger and more intelli- 
gent than those farther down the river. We have been advised 
to go out east of the town two or three days’ journey by foot, 
visit some big chiefs there, and see what the situation is in that 
section. We are now making ready for the trip. 


217 


218 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


PREPARING FOR THE TREK 


We have brought four boys with us from the south, who 
will hold the following important positions during the weeks 
that we shall be living and trekking in the bush: Tom, whose 
mouth is by far his most prominent feature, and whose face, 
when he laughs, looks exactly like the full moon, is the “ camp 
master.” His duty will be to supervise the making and striking 
of camp, to watch things when we are away, and be generally 
useful. Taunga is the cook. Shem is our foreman of the car- 
riers, and Samuel is his assistant. “They must stay with the 
carriers all the time, see that none of them run away with their 
loads and that nothing is lost, listen to all grievances, and boss 
things generally. 

Shem and Samuel have now gone into a near-by village to 
call twenty-five carriers, and we hope to leave early this after- 
noon. Our four boys are all from Rhodesia, and it is with some 
fear and trembling that they start on the journey, as they have 
heard a rumor that they may come upon cannibals, and they, 
being from another country, may be eaten. However, this is 
not likely to happen so near a European village. 

There is a large wireless station here, and I was glad to 
receive a message from home today. It seems wonderful to 
be thus in touch with civilization, right here in the heart of 
Africa. When Livingstone was in these parts, he was once 
three years without news from home, whereas we can wireless 
home in a few hours. Almost all parts of Central Africa have 
now been thus brought into touch with the outside world, as 
nearly every government post has a telephone, a telegraph, or 
a wireless station. 

Kongola is a very progressive village. It has about seventy 
white inhabitants, some eight hundred native soldiers, and a 
large native compound. We visited the bank today, and changed 
some more paper money for silver. “There is only one hotel, 
and as it was full, we arranged to remain on the boat until 
today, and by night we hope to have our own camp in order. 


TREKKING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 


JuNE 21, 1923.— Shem and Samuel returned Monday with- 
out a single carrier, after having spent most of the day looking 
for some. “They reported that the men would not go so far 
away from home unless the government administrator ordered 
them to go, so we were faced with a serious delay. We at once 
made our troubles known to the gentleman who was so friendly 
to us, and he promised to do his best, though he said it might 
require several days to get the carriers. 


As the train had left Kongola for the north, we were able 
to secure a room at the hotel, and there we established tem- 
porary headquarters. “This “hotel” is a pole-and-mud house, 
with grass roof, and the rooms are furnished with one table and 
one bedstead without mattress or linen or blankets; no chairs, 
mirrors, wash basins, or anything of that kind. Every one is 
expected to have all these little things with him when traveling 
in these parts. 


WAITING FOR CARRIERS 


We had plenty of time to unpack our camp kit, for we sat 
there till Wednesday afternoon waiting, waiting for the carriers. 
Police had been sent to the villages about to call the men, but 
there are not many who are eager to work. ‘The reason is 
obvious, for the wage established by the government for a day’s 
work is six cents, and each man must find his own food. Here 
all the native people grow fine gardens of cassava, corn, rice, 
bananas, and pineapples, besides having plenty of poultry and 
eggs, so why should they go and carry loads all day for the 
white man for six cents? 


As I have already indicated, we got away Wednesday after- 
noon, but not with all our outfit. Only seventeen carriers 
came, and we had loads for twenty-four. We arranged, there- 
fore, to leave Samuel at the hotel until seven other carriers 


219 


220 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


came, and they are to overtake us on the road. It has been de- 
cided that we should go to the paramount chief’s village. “There 
is a good road cut through most of the way for the use of the 
government officials, and we instructed the carriers to take this 
road. ‘They argued that they knew a much shorter path, 
but we insisted that they must take the main road. When 
they started, however, I discovered that one of my bicycle tires 
was punctured. So we allowed them to go ahead, as we could 
soon overtake them, and we wanted to see them off, for we 
were tired of the delay. 


THE WHITE MAN OUTWITTED 


This gave them the chance they wanted, so as soon as they 
were out of sight they turned off onto the trail that cut cross- 
lots, and hurried on as fast as they could, lest we call them back. 
As we suspected nothing wrong, we took the main road, and 
traveled as fast as we could in order to overtake them as early 
as possible; but after traveling for several miles, we became 
suspicious, and began to inquire of the villagers whether the 
carriers had passed. No one had seen them. We went a bit 
farther and inquired again. No results. “The process was re- 
peated until we finally gave up the idea of finding them on the 
road, and turned back to town. ‘There we learned that they 
had taken the short trail, and since they were so far ahead, 
there was nothing to do but follow. “The trail is just a narrow 
footpath, and we could ride our bicycles only part of the time; 
the rest we must walk. 

A little while before the sun sank behind the horizon we 
overtook them, and they seemed to think it a good joke that 
they had outwitted the white man. There was little use of 
getting angry and scolding, for the probability was that in such 
an event they would all shrug their shoulders and refuse to go 
farther. So we laughed with them about it, camped for the 
night in a little village, and this morning at the earliest indi- 
cations of dawn we broke camp and started on. 

It is best to travel in the early morning and late in the after- 
noon, for it is hot in the middle of the day, and the boys do not 


TREKKING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 221 


like to travel in the heat. We have just had our noonday meal, 
and will soon be off again, following the trail still farther into 
the bush. 

Taunga is a pretty good cook, and we had a sumptuous meal 
today,— green corn on the cob, hot bread, boiled potatoes and 
onions, gravy, pawpaw, etc. Our greatest difficulty is to get 
good fresh water, for the springs seem to be roiled by the 
natives and the wild game. Our four personal boys are too 
high class to do their own cooking, so they always manage to 
arrange with some woman in the village wherever we stop, 
to act as housemaid for them. So goes the world. 


THROWING AWAY HIS POTATO LOAD 


When Shem came into camp today, he reported that he had 
found the old man who was carrying the bag containing our 
potatoes and onions, with the bag open and throwing the con- 
tents into the tall grass. He had decided that his load was too 
heavy, and that this was the easiest way to lighten it. He was 
very unhappy when Shem happened to come along and inform 
him that all the onions and potatoes must be gathered up again 
and brought into camp. He looked very downcast when he 
heard Shem telling us about the experience afterward. He has 
been sulky ever since. 

Well, we must be off. There are many days of travel before 
us, and we must not tarry. 

JUNE 22.— Last night we camped at a village on the rail- 
way, as our trail has taken us along the track for several miles. 
The villages here are clean, and the people seem to be well 
supplied with good food. ‘The headman of the village brought 
out three handmade deck chairs for us, sent the women to the 
spring for water and the children for wood, and soon we were 
comfortably settled for the night. When Taunga came up, 
he arranged to buy some ripe fruit for us. We inquired for 
eggs, but there were none to be had. 

Our carriers came into camp very late, and they were sulky 
because we had not camped as early as they wanted us to. 
They informed us that tomorrow they were going to rest, as 


222 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


they were tired. We had traveled only about twelve miles, 
whereas twenty miles is considered a reasonable day’s trek, so 
we knew that they were simply trying us out, to see whether 
they could dictate our daily program. 

After supper, Elder Boger called them all together, and had 
a long talk with them. He told them that since we were mis- 
sionaries, we did not beat the natives, but that they were given 
to us by the administrator, and that our report to him would 
depend upon how they acted. ‘They finally said they were 
sorry for the way they had acted, and that they were ready 
to do as we asked. 

When we started out this morning, we soon left the railway 
and struck off to the left through the tall grass and bush. The 
grass here grows large like reeds, many of the stalks measuring 
an inch in diameter at the bottom, and reaching to the height 
of ten or twelve feet. ‘The trails have been cut out in some 
places to a width of from four to six feet, while at other places 
they are only about twelve inches wide. “They are very winding, 
and one travels much farther than would be necessary if the 
road were straight. 


FORDING THE FIRST RIVER 


Soon after leaving the railway, we encountered our first river, 
and as there was no bridge, we waited for the carriers to come 
up. They took us on their backs and carried us over. Dr. 
Reith and I each weigh about 218 pounds, and they shook 
their heads and laughed a good many times before they got 
up courage to undertake the task. 

About 8:30 we came to a second river, but this one spread 
out into a great swamp, and the path took us through a dense 
jungle for about one eighth of a mile. Poles had been cut and 
laid along the path, bridging the water holes, so we were able 
to cross without the aid of the carriers. 

Our carriers had told us of a large village called Malaugua, 
which we would pass soon after leaving the jungle, and 
they suggested that we stop there for the noonday meal 
and rest. When we came to this place, however, it was only 


TREKKING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 223 


about 9 A. M., and as we were only a little in advance of 
the boys, we decided to push on for another hour before 
resting. 

Alas! we did not know that this was the last village we should 
encounter for several miles. We traveled for two hours on 
our bicycles, when we came again to a very large swamp and 
jungle, and found our path leading straight into it. “The hope 
of finding a village in which to stop for lunch, where we could 
get water and food for our carriers, had now been abandoned, 
as it would require at least two hours more for the carriers 
to come up to us if they hurried on as fast as they could. 


NATURAL SWINGS AMONG TALL JUNGLE TREES 


We went into the jungle carrying our bicycles and walking 
on logs that had been cut to form a foot bridge through the 
swampy ground, and came finally to a beautiful stream in the 
very heart of the jungle. “There was no bridge over the stream, 
so we must either wait for the boys or remove our clothes and 
wade through. We decided to wait, for to go on would scarcely 
improve our situation, since all our food was behind with the 
carriers. We made a fire to keep away any stray mosquitoes that 
might chance to pass that way, sat down in some natural swings 
which hung from the tall jungle trees, and waited.. 

It proved to be a long wait. Our carriers, knowing that no 
other village was near, deliberately stopped at Malaugua, got 
the women to cook food for them, and spent several hours vis- 
iting and eating, notwithstanding the continued efforts of our 
boss boy, Shem, to persuade them to come on. So while we 
were waiting at the river in the jungle for our supplies (we had 
not eaten since the night before), the boys were feasting in the 
village, and having a good time at our expense. Elder Boger 
became restless, and decided to investigate conditions beyond 
the stream. So he removed his clothes, and after wading 
through the river and a long swamp, came out into the open. 
He called back to say that he would ride up the path and see 
whether there was a village near by. 


224 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


ONE LONE PLANTAIN 


About two o’clock two native women came along with large 
loads on their heads, and as we supposed they had fruit with 
them, we made known to them by signs that we were hungry 
and wanted to buy food. ‘They shook their heads, but we 
insisted, and finally they put down their loads and brought out 
one lone plantain, which proved to be all the food they had. 
After breaking off about one third of it for themselves, they 
gave us the rest. 

They seemed genuinely sorry for us, and it was with diff- 
culty that we succeeded in persuading them to accept a franc 
in exchange. We afterward learned that they also were way- 
farers who had come on the same train and boat with us from 
Elizabethville, and were en route to visit some of their friends. 
Fortunately, they were soon to reach a village where they could 
obtain a fresh supply of provisions for their journey. 


THE WELCOME FOOD BOX 


At three o’clock Elder Boger returned, and reported that a 
village was near. About the same time we heard voices behind 
us, and shortly Tom and Taunga came up with our food box 
tied to one of the tent poles and swinging between them. Oh, 
but they were tired! 

They had taken in the situation when the carriers refused 
to leave Malaugua village, gathered together what supplies they 
thought we would need most, and started on as fast as they 
could travel. My, but it was good to see them! We hurriedly 
crossed the stream, and in another half hour were in the village 
preparing dinner. “The box they had brought did not contain 
the flour, but we found it possible to enjoy a meal without bread. 
As a reward for their faithful service we purchased a goat for 
Tom, Taunga, and Shem, and they were soon preparing a 
good feast. 

The carriers finally arrived, and as it was Friday, we made 
camp and prepared to spend the Sabbath. So here we are, after 
a hard day’s trek, and are all very glad that we do not have 
to continue the journey tomorrow. 


TREKKING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO 225 


June 23.— The Sabbath is closing, and the shades of eve- 
ning are welcome. It has been a hot day, and very busy. 
Before we arose this morning, the people gathered about us 
for medicine,— men, women, and children,— and refused to 
go away, even to give us a chance to dress. 





A MORNING SPONGE BEHIND STRAW MATS 


‘Taking the morning sponge was a rather difficult task under 
the circumstances. We put up some straw mats and a bit of 
canvas, but it left the shoulders and lower limbs exposed, and 
every villager craned his neck to watch every move. Elder 
Boger threatened to photograph the doctor, and I am not sure 
but that he did. Nobody has felt very lively today, after yes- 
terday’s experience, and I think the doctor has malaria. He 
has felt bad all day, and has eaten very little. He is taking 
a course of quinine, and we hope he will feel like trekking 
tomorrow. 

There is a dance going on in the village, and I fear the beer 
is flowing freely, so that our carriers will not be very fit in the 
morning when it is time to take the trail again. Shem has just 
gone over to warn them that they must remain sober, but his 
words will probably have as much effect as water poured on 


a duck’s back. 
ANS INSUE DS LO Sloe SNAMEZOE GHRIST” 


Later.— We have just had a service with the people of the 
village, and for the first time in their lives they heard a sermon 
from a Protestant missionary. Many of them came dancing 
and beating their drums. ‘Their dance is the most sensual and 
devilish I have ever seen, yet they inform us that the priests 
have told them to dance in this way to worship God. What 
a crime against God, and what an insult to the name of Christ! 

After the service the chief informed us that there had been 
a Catholic school here some time ago, but when all the people 
were sprinkled, the school was removed, as they were told that 
now they were a Christian village, and no longer needed a 
teacher. Yet they have given up none of their heathen customs, 


15 


226 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


and their heathen temples, reared to the spirits, are everywhere 
in evidence. What kind of Christianity is this that Rome has 
brought to these poor, benighted people? 

The headman has told us that as soon as our work gets 
started in this country, he will welcome one of our teachers 
in his village, and will build a schoolhouse for him. May God 
hasten the day when this can become a reality. 

This village is not so well built as are many which we have 
passed through, and most of the people seem to be diseased. 
All the youngsters seem to have jigger fleas in their toes, and 
the feet of some of them are in a horrible state. “The doctor’s 
first patient today was a leper. His toes are almost gone, and 
the poor man will no doubt die in the near future. Syphilis 
is a very prevalent disease among the natives, and here it is 
everywhere in evidence. When one reflects that this disease 
was brought here by the white man, he is led to wonder whether 
the benefits of civilization outweigh the attendant curses. 

After watching the doctor treat the sick for a couple of hours, 
the headman requested that he leave the rest of his medicine 
with him, so that hereafter the people could come to him for 
help, and would not need to go to a doctor. 

What a contrast one sees in the various villages! Here 
everything is dirty. “The goats, sheep, and fowls live with the 
people. “Che headman has absolutely no control over his people, 
and sickness is everywhere; while other villages are clean, 
orderly, and well built, and disease is almost unknown. ‘The 
conditions are dependent largely upon the character of the 
headman. 


DYING WITHOUT CHRIST 


This evening we walked about the village, and found one 
poor old woman dying in front of her hut. She was so emaci- 
ated that she was no larger than a child, and little more than 
the frame of her body was left. She was too old to work, and 
they had laid her on a mat to await the call to the great un- 
known. She did not seem to be suffering from disease, but 
was just worn out and laid aside, 


TREKKING IN THE BELGIAN CONGO oop 


She will not last long now, perhaps a day or two, and then 
she will add one more to the list of millions who are dying 
every year without the Christian’s hope. For her the mission- 
ary has come too late. She is passing away with no greater 
hope than that her spirit may some day return to earth in the 
form of a dog or cat, and then in still another form. No hope 
of heaven! No knowledge of the love of Christ to buoy her 
up! No prospect of seeing her friends again! What a tragedy! 
And yet the same scene is being enacted in thousands of villages 
here in Central Africa, where the message of the cross has never 
yet come. How long must this continue before the church of 
the living God will arouse and send them the light of life? 





Home of Elder and Mrs. F. B. Jewell, Congo Border Mission, 
Northern Rhodesia 
The building is of brick, roofed with thatch. 


866 


R ‘uated oy} puryoq jsnf st Woy pue ‘10}90p dy} IeaU Spueys Jaryo sy, 


O8u0, ‘SeIJIA ayyseS je ,ouyD,, & SuIpjoy, “YWoy uyof 3q 








AT SESHEKE VILLAGE 


June 24, 1923.— Oh dear me! What a time we have had 
today! The carriers told us this morning that the path they 
were going to take us over was a “ very good” path, and that 
the rivers had bridges over them, and all would be lovely. 
Well, the bridges consisted of a log here and there in the swamp, 
with gaps between of hundreds of feet of slush and filth, knee- 
deep, where one must either wade or sit down and die. We 
had the boys carry us on their backs through the deep rivers, 
but there were so many swamps that it was impossible for them 
to carry us all the time. 

The carriers here are not so accustomed to carrying white 
men as are those in Rhodesia, and they made very hard work 
of it. Instead of one carrier taking one of us on his shoulders, 
five or six of them took hold of the legs, arms, and neck re- 
spectively, and made us assume the attitude of a bullfrog when 
he is about to leap, and then usually managed to drop us 
right in the worst places. Brother Boger is complaining of a 
wrenched back tonight as a result of one of these famous rides. 
We were a bedraggled and weary company when we finally 
reached the village of Sesheke, where we camped for the night. 
A good bath and some warm food, however, have helped us 
already to forget much of the weary travel of the day. 

When we came into the village, we were met by the chief, 
who seems to be a man of some importance, and he at once made 
us feel quite at home. He had easy deck chairs brought for 
us and for himself, and we soon began the customary indaba, 
which always follows the advent of a white man to a village 
where a chief lives. 


THE RED BLANKET 


We asked whether we could purchase food for our carriers, 
and he said, No, he could not sell to his visitors; he would 
present it to us. He sent out his headmen at once for a sheep, 


229 


230 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


and the women were told to get busy cooking porridge. Soon 
there was plenty of food for the entire company. 

The chief article of diet here, instead of being mealie meal, 
as in Rhodesia and South Africa, is flour made from the cassava 
root. The root is dug up, peeled, soaked in water for three 
days, and then pounded into flour. It makes a very palatable 
porridge, and can also be used successfully for making bread. 

Before leaving Kongola, Brother Boger purchased three cheap 
red blankets, thinking he would use them for presents to the 
various chiefs in the villages. Since the chief here had been 
so kind to us, Brother Boger got out one of the blankets and 
presented it to him. He received it rather coolly, handed it to 
one of his headmen, and it was taken to his house. A couple 
of hours later, however, he sent word back that the blanket 
was no good, since it was not strong, and that if we liked we 
could give him a present of money instead. We agreed to this, 
and soon the blanket came back. ‘The chief was handed a few 
francs, and the incident was closed with both parties satisfied. 


WHEN THE HOUSE FELL ON THE SUPPER 


Taunga had a bad mishap tonight while he was preparing 
the fritters for our supper, and as a result we are to retire 
supperless. He had built his fire under the eave of an aban- 
doned hut, and just when everything was almost ready for 
supper, the house took a sudden notion to fall down. It fell 
toward the supper, and succeeded in filling everything with 
mud and straw. We all suddenly discovered that we were 
not hungry anyway, after the good dinner we had eaten about 
3 p. M., and Taunga was saved the necessity of going through 
the performance of cooking a second meal. 

Very few white people have ever visited this village, and the 
women and children keep their distance. If one of us starts 
toward a group of them, they turn and run away like so many 
deer. I had great difficulty in persuading four women to pose 
for a photograph, and it was only after having Taunga talk 
to them and explain over and over that the camera was harmless, 
and offering them 20 centimes each, that I succeeded. 


AT SESHEKE VILLAGE 231 


Elder Boger has just held a service with the natives, using 
Tom and ‘Taunga as interpreters. “he people knew nothing 
about a gospel service, and it was with great difficulty that they 
were persuaded to sit down, as they all seemed to think they 
could see more if they remained standing. ‘They all got up and 
walked about several times during the service. Some one would 
forget and make a noise, and then all the rest would shout to 
him to keep quiet. ‘This village is entirely without the gospel 
light, so it is no wonder that they do not understand Christian 
usages and decorum. 

At the close of the sermon the people all started to disperse, 
but the chief, who is a very old man, quieted them, and said he 
desired to speak to us. He then asked about our mission work, 
and whether we planned to open a school in his village. We 
explained that we were searching through the country for a 
location for a training station and hospital, and when we had 
teachers trained, we could send him a teacher. May God 
grant that the time may not be long! 

When we arrived this afternoon, we told the chief that one 
of our number was a doctor, and would be glad to treat any 
of his people who were sick. At first he said there were no 
sick people in the village, but later a man came who had been 
bitten on the toe by a snake some time ago, and his toe had 
become infected. He had used a native medicine to neutralize 
the poison of the bite, but had had nothing to heal the infection. 
The doctor treated him, gave him some medicine, and left him 
happy. Later still a case of blood poisoning and several cases 
of itch came in, so we have had quite a clinic this afternoon, 
although there was “ nobody sick.” 


AT CATABAS VILLAGE 


JUNE 27.— It is two days since I have written, and during 
that time we have had many interesting experiences. Night 
before last we held a service with the people in the evening, 
at Cataba. We found the people here the most attentive of any 
we have found so far on the trip. “They sat quietly during the 
service, and showed great interest in the story of Jesus. Only 


232 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


two persons in the village had ever heard of Him before. 
Besides preaching to them, our boys taught them some Christian 
songs in their own language, and this they enjoyed immensely. 
They are very anxious that a teacher be sent to them, and we 
hope it will not be long before we can have one to send. 

Dr. Reith had a rest at this village, as the headman reported 
that there were no sick people there. Every one seemed to be 
in perfect condition. It is strange to find that through this 
section there are absolutely no bad teeth. Elder Boger has been 
anxious to do some dental work, but we have not yet found a 
bad tooth. At one village where we asked if any one wanted 
to have his teeth doctored, they said that if we could put in 
some more, they would let us pull theirs out, but upon ex- 
amination it was found that their teeth were perfect. I had 
never before seen such beautiful white teeth as these people 
have. 


WHIPPED FOR STEALING 


We were sorry to have to leave Cataba so soon, but we had 
to be off in the early morning, as we were headed for Chief 
Mukangwa’s village. We went ahead of the carriers on our 
bicycles, and after traveling about an hour and a half, were 
overtaken by the headman of Cataba and two of his counselors. 
They began talking excitedly to us, but as we could not under- 
stand their language, we had to wait until Tom came up to 
interpret for us. When he came, the chief said: 


“When the missionaries came to my village, I loved them 
very much. I gave them presents and food for their boys 
(he had given us a goat and a quantity of meal). Then I 
could not bear to see the missionaries’ carriers sleep out-of-doors, 
so I gave them to sleep in my brother’s house. How is it, then, 
after I have showed them this kindness, they steal my brother’s 
things? I ama poor man. If they steal from the white man, 
this does not matter so much, for he is rich, but I have only 
a little.” 

We inquired what was missing and who had stolen it. He 
called two of our boys, and produced a good straw hat, which 


AT SESHEKE VILLAGE 233 


he said they had taken from the hut. We held a trial, and the 
two boys were found guilty. Since the headman was in author- 
ity, we asked him to decide what the punishment should be, and 
he said they each should pay five francs or be whipped. 

They were unable to produce the money, so he had them 
stretched out upon the ground, took a jambok (a leather 
whip made from hippopotamus hide), and gave one of them 
six lashes and the other ten. The one who received ten was 
chiefly responsible for the theft. When this was over, he said 
he was satisfied, and returned to his village, and we went on 
our way. 





Putting Up the Framework for a Native Hut, 
Cataba Village, Congo . 


PSS 


‘Udy oY} Sursuesse ‘yySt1 oy} ye 1oyjne oy} pue 4yoy sy} UO YoY uyof “CT 


ISeJIA Hyuny yw swyeg ay} Jopun sutdue) 





AT CHIEF MUKANGWA’S VILLAGE 


June 28, 1923.— We are now in Chief Mukangwa’s village. 
We arrived here last night about sunset, and were pleased to find 
Samuel and the six carriers for whom he had waited in Kon- 
gola. Our carriers had taken us such a circuitous route that 
he could not follow us, so came straight through and waited 
here. We were very happy to see him, and find that our things 
were all safe. He had had considerable trouble also, as one 
carrier got sick and had to return to Kongola, and it became 
necessary for Samuel to wait two days to find another man who 
would come with them. ‘They brought about three dozen 
lemons, and we treated ourselves to lemonade last night, which 
was a welcome change from the poor water we have had for 
several days. 

Chief Mukangwa is a paramount chief, and has shown him- 
self very friendly. He presented us with a goat, a sheep, and 
five chickens, and his women cooked food for our carriers. 
He has requested us to establish the mission near his village, 
but we feel that this is too far from the main line of travel. 
So we have decided to strike toward Kobalo on the Congo 
River, and investigate the country between here and there. 
We hear that there are many rivers to cross, but we will try 
to make it direct, since to return via Kongola would require 
much more time. 


HOW THE PEOPLE LIVE 


The villages through here are well laid out and well built. 
The houses are square, with pole-and-mud walls and thatched 
roofs. The roof extends out some six feet on all sides to form 
a veranda. The doors are made of bamboo. ‘The chief’s house 
is very much larger and better than any of the rest, and is 
surrounded by a high bamboo fence, forming a court. 

The huts are very simply furnished. Usually the furniture 
consists of a few clay waterpots, mats or skins for a bed, and 
sometimes a few crude chairs. In cold weather the cooking is 


235 


236 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


done inside the hut, and as there is no chimney, the smoke is 
left to find its way out as best it can. The usual weapon used 
in these parts is the bow and arrow. ‘The arrows are poisoned, 
and the largest game is killed with a single arrow shot. ‘Their 
farm work is done with a crude hoe made from iron they 
themselves have smelted. 


A UNIQUE WIRELESS SYSTEM 


These people also have their own wireless system. This is 
conducted by the use of drums, and has been in vogue for 
generations. A message is given in code by beating upon a 
drum, and this is taken up by the drummers of the surrounding 
villages within hearing distance, and passed on and on from 
village to village until it has sometimes traveled hundreds of 
miles. As we go through the country, the news is almost in- 
variably “ wirelessed ”’ ahead of us, and the village people are 
usually gathered to meet us when we arrive. 

Any great event, such as a declaration of war by some nation 
or the death of a great chief, is known by the natives in even 
the most out-of-the-way places before the white people, even 
government officials living there, learn of it, even though the 
government posts get this kind of news by wireless, telegraph, 
and telephone. Chief Mukangwa’s'drummer has been demon- 
strating their wireless system out in front of our camp for the 
last half hour, and our ears are almost deafened by the noise. 

JUNE 29.— There is not much to write about today: we 
are camped within twenty miles of the Congo River, and as 
it is Friday, our boys are washing our clothes. We will not 
trek till about two o’clock, and then try to make only about 
ten miles. Dr. Reith has amused himself along the way buying 
cat skins to make a rug. He also succeeded in getting one 
leopard skin from Chief Mukangwa. Whenever a leopard is 
killed, the skin must be taken to the paramount chief, as it is 
considered royal game. We hope to get another from a chief 
farther on. 

The trails here are very narrow and crooked, and it is im- 
possible to ride our bicycles all the time. However, we are 


AT CHIEF MUKANGWA’S VILLAGE 257 


able to make very good time. Some of the carriers keep almost 
up with us, while others linger in the villages along the way, 
and come into camp two or three hours late. 


IN KUNFU VILLAGE 


JuNE 30.— Well, this is Sabbath, and we are camped at 
Kunfu village. We arrived here at about 1:30 yesterday 
afternoon, and as some of our carriers were not very well, it 
seemed best to rest till Sunday. We are now within fifteen or 
twenty miles of Kobalo, and from here to the river we will 
make careful search for a mission site. Kunfu is beautifully 
situated in a large palm grove, but the huts are very poor, and 
the people seem to be of an inferior type. 


This is a stronghold of heathenism, and when asked at the 
service last night how many had heard about God and His 
Son, they said they knew nothing of Him. Poor people! The 
village is literally filled with idol houses, erected for the habita- 
tion of the spirits of ancestors. “These houses usually contain 
some kind of idol, a pipe, some arrows, sometimes a bow, and 
often a pot in which food and beer are placed for the spirits. 
The people claim that at times they are visited by the spirits, 
and receive communications from them. In fact, about every 
phase of modern Spiritualism, which wears the cloak of Chris- 
tianity, is duplicated here. 

In one village a man had two idols in his spirit house, and 
one was tied with a rope. When asked about it, he explained 
that they were his father and mother. His mother was good 
during her life, so he had not tied her up, but he had had much 
trouble with his father, and thought best now to keep his spirit 
tied. Some of the idol houses are very small, while others are 
almost as large as the huts occupied by the living. 


THE LIVING GOD 


This afternoon I went with the chief down to the chief idol 
house. Many of the village people followed. I sat down with 


238 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


him in front of the little temple, and talked with him. I said, 

“Is this your chief god?” 

ce Yes.” 

“Will you tell me something your god has said to you, so 
I may know what he teaches? ” 

He looked troubled, and talked with his men about it. 
Finally he said, ‘‘ We do not know anything our god has ever 
said to us. He cannot talk.” 

“Well,” I said, “tell me something your god has done. 
What great work has he performed, that makes you feel he is 
worthy of your worship?” 

Then they had another council, and at last the chief said, 
“He has not done anything. This god does not go away from 
here. He stays here all the time.” 

I said, ‘‘ Why do you have him here, if he never talks to you, 
and has never done anything? What good is he?” 

The chief said, ‘‘ When we are sick, we come here for medi- 
cine and healing, and in time of war we pray to the spirits of 
our ancestors for power and strength.” 

I said, “Show me somebody who has been healed by your 
god.” 

They had still another council, finally replying that they 
could not tell me of anybody who had been healed. 

“Well,” I said, “I want to tell you about my God.” Then 
I spent three quarters of an hour telling them about the God 
of heaven, and His Son Jesus, and said, “‘ He has sent us with 
a message for you and your people.” 

That evening he came to our camp and said, “ We have 
been considering this matter very carefully, and our hearts are 
going out to the living God. We want to know the great God, 
but, sirs, how can we worship a God we do not know? You 
will leave us tomorrow. We do not know this God, nor how 
to worship Him, nor what He wants us to do; but if you will 
send us a teacher who can teach us about God and His ways, 
we will destroy all these idol houses, and we will be God’s men.” 

This is only one such experience out of many which we have 
had in this country. 


AT CHIEF MUKANGWA’S VILLAGE 239 


A DOCTOR’S DIFFICULTIES 


We have just held “ clinic,’ and several sick people came 
to be treated. Most of the sick here, however, are afraid of 
the white doctor. “They have their own medicine men, of 
course, and many of them prefer to go to them. ‘These native 
doctors have many good remedies, but often their treatment is 
very crude and sometimes brutal. Wherever the white doctor 
is known and the people have overcome their fear, they gladly 
choose him. 


The advice given by our doctor is not always well received, 
as it sometimes runs counter to the established customs of the 
people. The other day a man brought his wife for medicine, 
and said she had pains in her back and neck. ‘The doctor ex- 
plained that she had been carrying too heavy loads, and hoeing 
too much in the garden, and she must rest until she was well. 
This brought forth a strong protest from her husband, who 
said, “‘ No, she is my wife; and when we buy a wife, she must 
work from the time when she is very young until she is very 
old; otherwise how shall my son and I obtain food?” 


When told that he must do some of her work instead of 
sitting all day jabbering in the village, he was still more dis- 
pleased, and proceeded to give the people a lecture on how the 
women should do the work. ‘The doctor gave her some pills, 
and explained that she should take one every two days, and 
that she absolutely must not do any heavy work until they were 
all taken. He finally received her husband’s consent that this 
instruction should be carried out. Poor man, he may have to 
carry a little wood and water now, and miss-a bit of the village 
gossip | 

Taunga and Shem are getting ready to preach to the people. 
It is very difficult here, as none of our boys know the language, 
and they have to speak in a language the people do not know 
very well. However, they seem to understand a part of it at 
least. We talked to them about the great Creator, and urged 
them to worship only Him. ‘They replied that their hearts 
longed to know more about God, and if we would send them 


240 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


a teacher, they would burn all their idols, tear down the little 
temples, and be God’s men. May God speedily open the way 
for the teacher to come! 





Breakfast at Chief Mukangwa’s Village, Congo 


Tom on the left. 


AT KOBALO 


Juty 2, 1923.— We are now at Kobalo on the Congo River, 
and what a time we had to get here! We broke camp early 
Sunday morning, and determined to reach Kobalo, about twenty 
miles distant, by evening. Ordinarily this would have been 
an easy task, but we had not counted on all the obstacles in 
the way. 

About 1:30 Pp. mM. we came to a swamp, and found all the 
bridges washed away. ‘The bridges had been made of poles 
tied with bark, and the high water of the past rainy season had 
carried them away. ‘There were some six quagmires and water 
holes to cross, ranging from one hundred yards to an eighth 
of a mile in width. 

We found canoes at most of the places, and after bickering 
over the price, succeeded in securing these for crossing. In 
some places, however, the canoes would not float, because of 
the grass and mud, and at these places our only means of 
transport was the backs of the natives. It is no small task to 
carry over two hundred pounds through mud and slush waist 
deep, with reeds and grass matted into the mud entangling one’s 
feet at every step. Some three or four hours were thus con- 
sumed in crossing the swamp and the river, and we finally 
arrived at Kobalo just before sunset. 


A HOTEL WITHOUT BEDS 


We had seen only two of our carriers since morning, and 
these two we had left far behind, so we sat down on the bank 
of the river and waited until long after dark, hoping they 
would arrive with our luggage and beds. As there were no 
signs of them, however, the only alternative was to try the 
hotel. When we arrived there, the proprietor explained that 
he could furnish us rooms and board, but that he had no 
bedding or nets. We explained our situation, and a gentleman 
from Canada who was also stopping there, volunteered to lend 


16 241 


242 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


us one blanket, and finally the hotel keeper decided that he 
could find at least two blankets and one net. 

After supper we were shown to our rooms, and found that 
one bed did not even have a mattress. “Che mosquitoes were 
so bad that we knew it would be impossible to sleep without 
nets. After holding an indaba over the situation, we decided 
to put two beds together in one room, stretch the net over our 
heads, and all sleep together. “This worked well for an hour 
or so, but the ventilation was poor, and the mosquitoes found 
all sorts of ways to get through or under the net. 

One by one we decided that it was safer and more pleasant 
outside. Elder Boger tried the veranda, and Dr. Reith and 
I spent a good share of the night sitting by a fire in the 
yard with blankets wrapped about us to keep out the chill and 
the mosquitoes. A friendly native who had kindled the fire 
brought us some seats, and we tried to make ourselves com- 
fortable. 

We had thought that Kobalo might be a suitable place for 
the mission, but last night’s experience has completely dis- 
abused our minds of this idea, and we at once made arrange- 
ments for passage back to Kongola on a freight steamer that 
was to leave soon after noon today. 

We found ‘some of our boys early this morning, and the rest 
of them came in during the forenoon, except one poor fellow 
who had heart trouble and had to drop out for rest. We are 
now steaming down the river, and are all glad to be taking 
our departure from Kobalo. 


VIRGIN SOIL FOR MISSIONARY WORK 


During our journey of the last two weeks, we have passed 
through a wonderful country, heavily populated with native 
people, and constituting almost virgin soil for missionary work. 
The prospect for developing a strong work in this section is 
very bright indeed. 

Jury 5.— We reached Kongola again Monday night, fully 
persuaded in our minds that this is the logical place for our 
main center of influence in this section of the Congo. 


AT KOBALO 243 


On the west bank of the Lualaba River, and only three or 
four miles south of the town, is a range of hills with a high 
bluff rising abruptly out of the river, forming a natural health 
resort, and here we hope to see our mission established. It is 
a beautiful country, nicely wooded, and watered by small 
streams. In this section the fever is not bad, and black water 
fever has almost entirely disappeared. “The climate is very 
pleasant indeed. It is quite hot in the daytime, especially in 
the afternoon, yet not so hot as in many places in America; 
but the nights are always cool and pleasant. During the time 
we have been here we have had to sleep under one or two 
blankets each night, and one awakes in the morning thoroughly 
rested and refreshed. 


A WONDERFUL COUNTRY 


We have been wonderfully surprised at the general situation 
throughout the Congo. We had to some extent shared the 
general idea that it was a veritable death trap, and that only 
the most robust could be sent here for mission work. After 
visiting the field, however, it is our opinion that living condi- 
tions throughout the field compare favorably with Rhodesia, and 
in fact are much better in many ways. ‘True, there are swampy 
places where a white man could not build his home, but on the 
other hand there are mountain ranges and plateaus distributed 
all through the country, where the missionary can safely live. 

Sleeping-sickness has been one of the great curses of the 
Congo in the past, but the government is now learning to 
combat it successfully, and it is rapidly disappearing. Very 
few white people have ever been affected by it, but some years 
ago it became a great scourge among the natives. Generally 
speaking, however, the natives enjoy far better health than those 
in South Africa and Rhodesia, and the white population seems 
to fare about as well. 

The whole country is open to the message. Everywhere we 
have gone we have been heartily welcomed by the government 
officials, and they have done all they could to assist us and to 
suggest favorable situations for our stations. We could not 
ask for more. O for twenty families who could step in and 
occupy this great field at once! 


244 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


TWENTY MILLION AWAITING THE GOSPEL 


Next year we trust it will be possible for our work to be 
extended to the great lakes on the east and to Stanleyville on 
the north. It is expected that the headquarters of the eastern 
portion of the field will ultimately be moved from Elizabeth- 
ville to Stanleyville, and that the western section will be oper- 
ated separately, with headquarters perhaps at Leopoldville. 

While travel is slow in the Congo, yet it is comparatively 
easy, since there are so many waterways, and railways are being 
rapidly constructed; and now that we have entered the field, 
it should require only a short time to occupy every section of it. 
It is one of the most populous sections of the African continent, 
its inhabitants being estimated to number from fifteen to twenty 
million. It is our great ambition to see the banner of truth 
soon waving over every important center in this great field. 

Since our company all felt deeply impressed that the Kongola 
section was the place for our next outpost, and since so much 
time had been consumed by our trips about here, it was decided 
to abandon the trip to the lake for the present. Next year 
perhaps a site can be located there also. 





Along the Lualaba River (Congo) 


DAYBREAK IN THE DARK CONTINENT 


“Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon 
stretch out her hands unto God.” Ps. 68:31. 

For many long, weary years our brethren who were the 
pioneers in the work in Africa labored without seeing very 
much in the way of results. When the author came to Africa 
and visited some of our older stations, he found some of the 
pioneers still there, working away, doing what they could in 
their old age. Some of the early workers were sleeping in the 
cemeteries, for almost every station has its place of burial where 
repose some of our brethren who went out from America years 
ago, and have fallen in the fight. The survivors of these first 
workers have told me of the many years they labored in 
Rhodesia and different parts of Central Africa without seeing 
very many converts to the faith. 

But we face a different situation today. The foundation 
they laid was laid well and is strong. ‘The seed they sowed 
has not only begun to germinate and grow, but is bearing an 
abundant harvest, so that today we see marvelous things taking 
place in the African Division. 


CHIEFS AND EVANGELISTS ACCEPTING THE TRUTH 


I am fully persuaded that during the last few years of 
our work in Africa we have been experiencing some genuine 
showers of the latter rain. We have seen men, rulers over large 
territories of country and over thousands of native people, em- 
brace this truth and cast in their lot with our people. We have 
seen men who have been educated in other mission schools and 
have been ordained to the gospel ministry, or who have gone 
out as leading teachers for other denominations, come in con- 
tact with our evangelists and teachers, and accept God’s mes- 
sage for today. 

The Solusi station alone has a number of well-trained, edu- 
cated evangelists and teachers who knew nothing of this mes- 
sage eighteen months ago. ‘They are men who have been a 


245 


246 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


number of years in gospel work for other denominations, and 
having come in contact with our evangelists, have been impressed 
by our message and have cast in their lot with us. After spend- 
ing a few months in the Solusi Mission Training School, these 
men have been able to go out and fill important positions in our 
work. ‘These things give confidence that God is going before 
this people in Africa. 

In the early days our brethren had to take little boys, and 
practically adopt them into the mission families, and bring 
them up through long years .of training, before they could be 
sent out among their people. This is being done yet; but in 
those days our missionaries were absolutely dependent upon 
such help as they were able to develop in that way. ‘Today 
we see scores of educated men coming into the work, who can 
be trained quickly and go out to do efficient service. 


A MISSIONARY TO HIS OWN PEOPLE 


Near Bulawayo lived a powerful chief by the name of 
Majinkela. About two-years ago one of our native evangelists, 
Jim Mayinza, was preaching in the native part of the town of 
Bulawayo. There he met a brother of Chief Majinkela. ‘This 
young man became interested in Jim’s preaching, and finally 
accepted the message. He decided to go out to the Solusi school 
and take training for the ministry. But no sooner had he 
accepted the message than he became greatly burdened for his 
brother, and so he asked Jim to go down with him to the 
chief’s village. 

They went and stayed there a few days and held meetings. 
It was about seventy miles out in the country. The chief called 
together all his villagers that were in hearing distance. They 
have a drum, a crude instrument, with which they call the 
people together when there is anything special going on. So 
he had the drummers send out the message for everybody to 
come. Jim preached to them two or three days. He was invited 
back again and again, until finally a number of people in that 
village had fully accepted the message. ‘The old chief himself 
was mightily stirred. He began to keep the Sabbath, but 
there were habits that he seemed unable to give up. 


DAYBREAK IN THE DARK CONTINENT 247 


On my first visit to Rhodesia, the brethren asked me to go 
with them to visit this chief, so we drove out those seventy 
miles in a spring wagon drawn by a team of good horses. ‘This 
was quite a contrast to the ox wagon and bicycle we had used 
at the Musofu and Rusangu Missions. Unfortunately, horses 
cannot live at those stations on account of horse sickness. 

We spent three days with Chief Majinkela and his people, 
and he entertained us royally. He had a grass hut that was 
kept especially for European visitors, in which was a real bed, 
a real table, and some real chairs,— things you never see in an 
ordinary native village. ‘The inside walls were decorated with 
three beautiful leopard skins. He escorted us into this hut, 
and told us it was to be our home. We soon saw that we could 
be very much at home there. It certainly was very acceptable 
to us. 

We had arrived at the village before dusk, just in time to 
escape a severe rainstorm which had been brewing for several 
hours. As we were planning to remain for two days, we un- 
packed our luggage and began to make arrangements ‘for cook- 
ing. The natives cook either in the center of the one room 
of their houses, or on a fire built out-of-doors. We chose the 
latter plan, and soon had a good meal ready. 


AN AFRICAN FEAST 


A number of students from the main station school had 
walked over to be at the meetings we were to hold with the 
chief and his people, and on the second day a feast was made 
in their honor. ‘Two goats were brought from the pasture and 
killed, and the flesh was boiled in a large iron pot near the 
center of the village. The African believes in the doctrine that 
nothing should be wasted, so the entrails of the goats were care- 
fully laid on some live coals raked from under the pot, and 
allowed to get nice and brown. ‘This was considered a rare 
delicacy, and was accordingly confiscated by the men who were 
doing the cooking. ‘They ate it with the same relish that you, 
for instance, would eat a piece of homemade apple pie. 

In the evening the whole village gathered. The natives 
seated themselves out of doors on the ground in a circle, and 


248 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


the chief conferred upon Jim, our evangelist, the honor of 
carving the meat and serving the people. ‘There were, of 
course, no dishes except the large handmade wooden platter 
upon which the flesh was served, but they seemed to experience 
no difficulty in managing without them. We were much in- 
terested, but needless to say, we decided to take our supper 
that evening as usual in our own hut. 

Never did I enjoy three days more than those spent in this 
village. All his people that the chief could rally, came to- 
gether,— some of them Christians, some members of other 
societies, and some heathen. He and his family had been 
nominal Christians for a number of years. 

We held three meetings a day, met several delegations of 
natives, and baptized a number of those who were ready for 
church membership, so we were by no means idle. Among 
those baptized was one of the wives of the chief. “This step 
on her part made a forcible impression upon his heart. 


ASSEAVESTOSLOBACCO 


In an open-air meeting, held near the close of the last day 
of our stay with them, a call was made for those to arise who 
would fully take their stand for God and the truth. Many 
arose, but the chief kept his seat and looked very much troubled. 
He had already begun to keep the Sabbath, but something was 
hindering him, and he had not yet fully decided to identify him- 
self with us. We had hoped that at this meeting he might 
definitely take his stand, but he made no move in that direction. 
He sat still and looked down at the ground. 

However, when the service was closed, he remained with us 
until all the people had scattered, and then approaching Brother 
H. M. Sparrow, who could understand his language, he took 
a little tin box from his pocket, and said, “ This is the thing 
that kept me in my seat today. [It was his tobacco box. |] 
When others were standing and giving their lives to God, I felt 
that I should not be truthful if I stood before I had gotten the 
victory over my tobacco habit.” 

“Well,” Brother Sparrow said, “are you going to let a 
little thing like that keep you out of God’s kingdom? ”’ 


DAYBREAK IN THE DARK CONTINENT 249 


He said, ‘‘ No, I am not. After you men are gone, I am 
going out to the woods, and there I will get down on my knees 
before God and wrestle with Him until He gives me victory 
over this thing; and when I have the victory, then I will come 
and tell you about it.” 

We had to leave the village with no more promise than that. 
We did not know what would happen. 

I went back to our headquarters at Cape Town, and about 
five months later went to Rhodesia again, to attend the Solusi 
camp-meeting. "There I was glad to find Chief Majinkela and 
a number of his people. I had not been there very long, when 
one day, as I was having dinner with the brethren, Jim came 
running around to where I was and said, “I want you right 
away.” 

I said, “ All right, as soon as dinner is over.” 

“No,” he said, “you must come now. We cannot wait.” 

So I went out, and he gave me a little box, saying, “ The 
chief has sent his tobacco box to you. He says that God has 
given him the victory, and now he is ready to take his stand 
with this people.” 

After all, human nature is about the same the world over. 
The third angel’s message makes the same demands for clean 
lives and pure hearts upon the black man of Africa as upon the 
Caucasian, and the African finds the same mighty deliverer in 
Jesus Christ, the sinner’s friend, as others have found before. 


A NEW MAN IN CHRIST JESUS 


The next day, when the time came for a testimony meeting, 
Chief Majinkela arose and gave the following interesting 
testimony: 

“For many years I have seen mission stations, but I have 
never seen such great light as since coming here. It is a marvel- 
ous thing to me to see white men who will come to look for us 
as these white people have done. But they are only carrying 
out what Jesus told them to do,— to come to hunt us out from 
the rocks and mountains. We were just like wild beasts (with 
no hope); and the Lord saw our condition, and sent these 


250 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


ministers to preach Christ to us, and to tell us Jesus is coming. 
Now the burden is upon us. We must carry the message to 
our people.” 

The next morning in testimony service he said: 

“T praise the Lord this morning. It is wonderful how God 
has led me into this truth. I pray that my life may be spent 
in giving this truth to my people. While I was traveling a 
road of darkness, I heard that Jesus loved me. Now I desire 
all my people to hear this truth and be saved.” 

It did our souls good to hear him talking that way to those 
for whom we were laboring. He is ruler over 15,000 people, 
who look up to him almost as to a god. ‘The chief’s word is 
law, in religious matters as well as other matters; and this man 
is having a mighty influence already in leading many of his 
people into this message. Since I left, I have received word 
that a large company have accepted the message-as a result 
of his influence. 





The Late Chief Majinkela and His Household 


At this pole-and-thatch hut the writer stayed while visiting this village. 


WIDE-OPEN DOORS 


So far as constituency is concerned, the African field is still 
small, yet in the last four years the number of native believers 
has doubled, so that we have, during these four years, received 
into this message as many converts as during the previous thirty 
years or more, since our work started among the native peoples. 

We are very much impressed with the way God is going 
before us, opening up districts which we have been unable to 
enter on account of the lack of money or men, or where we 
have not been permitted to enter. As our missionaries go out, 
they find companies of believers which have been raised up by 
students who, in former years, attended our mission schools, and 
have gone back to their homes, and in a quiet way been teaching 
the truth to the people in their villages. 


AN ISOLATED SEVENTH-DAY CONGREGATION 


Our Southern Rhodesian brethren have had a number of 
experiences like this during 1923 and 1924. Elder H. M. 
Sparrow tells of visiting a remote section to learn what pros- 
pects there were for opening our work there, and to his surprise 
was told that his teaching was just like that of a church already 
established in that place. Of course, he wanted to meet the 
preacher, so they introduced him to a native woman, and said, 
“This is the preacher, and she has a seventh-day church.” 

Elder Sparrow found that about thirty years ago, when Elder 
Tripp and Elder Anderson established the mission at Solusi, 
she was a little girl. Her parents sent her to the mission. 
Later she married and moved to a far-away tribe. As the 
years went by, she felt that this tribe ought to have the message, 
so she gathered the people together and began to teach them. 
She continued this work until a company of believers was raised 
up. Elder Sparrow found twenty-three still keeping the Sab- 
bath, looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching and 
longing for one of our missionaries to come and baptize them 


251 


Pays MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


and receive them into the church. “They had been there for 
many years, and we had been working within seventy miles of 
them, yet knew nothing about it. 


KATE AND HER CHURCH 


Eighteen years ago one of our students — they call her Kate 
— went to a remote village and began to preach to her people. 
We found that this woman had held a group of ninety-six to- 
gether for these years, keeping the Sabbath. She waited for 
years for a missionary to come, and at last became discouraged ; 
but her people whom she had brought into the light remained 
faithful, and through their persuasion, even in her apostasy, she 
continued to hold meetings with them. 

When Elder Sparrow reached the village, he found these 
believers, and this woman trying to hold them together. As 
he preached to them, she gave her heart to God anew, and ar- 
ranged to change some conditions in her life which would pre- 
vent her becoming a member of the church. ‘These believers 
are almost ready for baptism, and desire that we establish a 
school among them. But we have no worker to send. 


SCHOOLS OVERFLOWING 


Elder F. E. Thompson, superintendent of the North Rho- 
desia Mission field, who has been acting superintendent of the 
Rusangu Mission station, says that there are so many applica- 
tions to enter the school that it is overflowing. ‘‘ We have been 
compelled,” he writes, “to turn away boys who have walked 
across the country for six weeks to reach the school that teaches 
the real Bible.” Hundreds of miles away they have heard that 
God is with this mission, that the truth is taught here. But 
we do not have sufficient room for them, and are compelled to 
turn them away. A chief, 150 miles away, sent a delegation, 
begging the missionaries to send him a teacher, in order that 
his people might learn the message. 


OUTSTRETCHED ARMS OF WELCOME 


Brother Thompson tells of one section, which we have not 
been able to enter, where the chiefs themselves have kept our 





254 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN AFRICA 


missionaries out for years. “They were not favorable to our 
work, because we teach the girls and women not to make beer for 
the men, and that seems to be a very important item with them. 

The chief who had been the strongest in opposing Christianity 
in that territory, died not long ago. The chief who took his 
place was also opposed to missions, but in a short time this 
second chief died. Elder Thompson and our missionaries knew 
nothing about this until they made a trip into that section, and 
pitched their camp one night not far from the chief’s village. 

While they were getting settled for the night, a group of 
people came running out, and began to talk to Elder Thompson. 
His interpreter had gone for water, and he could not under- 
stand what was said, so he waited. Soon another company 
came running up, and then another, until there were groups 
of natives all about him, all trying to talk at once, and none 
making themselves understood. 

When the interpreter arrived, the man who led the first 
company said, ““ You must listen to me first, for I came first. 
We want you to know that the two chiefs who opposed the 
missions -are both dead. As soon as we heard that you were 
coming through our country, we did not even return home from 
our fields, but threw down our hoes, and have run as fast as 
we could to ask you to come at once and teach us.” So said 
they all. 

Word has recently come to us from some parts of the field, 
to the effect that from distances of a thousand miles from our 
nearest mission station, natives are writing in and pleading for 
teachers to be sent to their villages and tribes, that they may be 
taught the gospel. Everywhere we turn, the story is the same. 
Ethiopia is today stretching out her hands to God, and this 
appeal constitutes a mighty challenge to the church of Christ. 
It is her golden day of opportunity. If the church will but 
respond quickly, and place at the disposal of the Mission Board 
the necessary recruits and means for their support, this great 
“open sore of the world” can be healed. And we believe that 
this response will be made. God has not thrown open a thou- 
sand doors to us in this great heathen land only to mock us. 


WIDE-OPEN DOORS 255 


Our faith lays hold of the promise, ‘‘ My God shall supply all 
your need according to His riches in glory.” And we believe 
that we shall here witness, during the next few years, a mighty 
miracle of His grace in redeeming literally thousands of these 
dusky sons and daughters of His from the thraldom of heathen 
darkness, and preparing them for a place in His kingdom. 
‘True, they now are only poor black people, steeped in ignorance 
and sin; but in the kingdom there will be one nation and one 
King; all of this world’s racial distinctions will have disap- 
peared. And in that day when those who turn many to right- 
eousness shall shine as the stars in the firmament, I fancy that 
some of these converts from heathenism, who have, after con- 
version, and often through much tribulation, given their lives 
to Him in loving service, will shine the brightest. 





Young Zulus Enjoying Their Cornmeal and Bread 





Natal, South Afriea 


bd 


In Zululand 





DATE DUE 


HMM 


HIGHSMITH #45115 





ee 


oad Pa ; 
ae wa ae ee tA TA ae 


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